2007 Health Care Trends

Hewitt Associates recently released the Emerging Health Care Trends for this year’s survey results. The summary is now available in the HRO Manager Research section.

Performance Management Needs

In order to gather information about performance management practices and outcomes, WorldatWork and Sibson Consulting invited WorldatWork members to participate in a confidential online survey. Results from the 2007 State of Performance Management Study by WorldatWork and Sibson Consulting indicate that improvement in performance management is needed in many organizations and that performance management is stronger in higher performing companies.
Key findings of the study include:
Performance Management techniques for both the effective and less effective organizations are not very different. The greatest difference is the level of active leadership support and championing of the process.
At least half the respondents use information from Performance Management to determine merit increases, promotions and annual incentive distributions.
Only 30 percent of the respondents reported that their employees trust the Performance Management system.
The 2007 WorldatWork and Sibson State of Performance Management Study surveyed more than 550 individuals, primarily senior-level HR professionals. The demographic profile of the respondents is similar to that of the WorldatWork membership. The organizations represented in the study range in size from fewer than 100 employees to more than 100,000 employees. The following industries were represented: Finance and Insurance, Healthcare, Higher Education, Manufacturing, Professional Services, Public Sector and Utilities.
WorldatWork is an international association of Human Resource professionals and business leaders focused on attracting, motivating and retaining employees. WorldatWork supports its 30,000 members and customers in 75 countries with Leadership Education, Publications, Research and Certifications.

Caliber Point Growth Expectations

Caliber Point, a subsidiary of the multi-core Hexaware Technologies, is expected to emerge as a strong HRO player in the coming years. Reports are coming out that the company is focusing on major HRO wins this year. Caliber Point is a strong outsourcing player in the healthcare segment primarily; however it is well positioned to handle major HRO contracts.
Caliber Point enjoys the technology expertise from its parent company Hexaware, which offers advanced technology solutions to HR and other areas helping the HRO buyers to enjoy a cost advantage. Its offshore model further helps the buyers on the cost side.
Research leader EquaTerra is optimistic on the company as well as expecting it to move up the value chain in the coming years.
The company signed with HRAmerica this January which was subsequently acquired by Gevity. Sources report that the company is focusing primarily on European markets during this year in comparison to North America.
The company is headed by Mr. Ashok Bildikar, President of Caliber Point, who won the HRO Superstar Award for 2007.

New ACS Contract

ACS signed a Benefits outsourcing contract with Ameren Corporation, one of the largest investor-owned electric and gas utilities in the US. The duration of contract is 5 years and covers 24,000 employees.
For more details on this news, Please click the below link
ACS Awarded Contract

RediClinic Offers Valuable Employer Solutions

RediClinic, one of Steve Case’s Revolution Health Care companies, offers a unique and innovative way of creating a value proposition to employers of all sizes. Easier and Earlier Access to Health Care.
Convenient care clinics provide convenience, cost reduction and more importantly - less time out of work for employees. The average cost of absenteeism is $660 per employee. This is a hidden cost in the healthcare arena that has gotten little if any, attention in the past. The recent announcement of Retail Giant Wal-Mart to expand its store healthcare clinics from 76 currently to more than 400 over the next few years might be attributed to the above discussion. Industry experts feel that RediClinic, already operating over 50 nurse practitioner-staffed clinics in high traffic locations that are co-located with pharmacies, including Walgreens, Wal-Mart and H.E.B. is well positioned to cater to the ultimate convenience needs of employees.
Chris W. Kersey, RediClinic’s Chief Medical Officer, says RediClinic creates a compelling value proposition to employers of all sizes by providing Easier and Earlier Access to healthcare. According to him:
“Easier access to health care, particularly for those individuals without a primary care provider. Since RediClinics are conveniently located in stores where your employees already shop, getting a prescription at the store’s pharmacy (and filling the prescription!) is easy.
Earlier access to health care, thus potentially reducing illness severity and any related absenteeism from work. RediClinic offers a broad menu of preventative screening services and vaccinations, including physicals, drug screenings, blood tests for common diseases, osteoporosis, health risk appraisals, biometric measurements, and immunizations.
Complementarily to your current health and wellness programs with a focus on preventive care and reducing long-term health care utilization. High-quality, standardized care across clinics. RediClinics are staffed by highly-trained, peer-reviewed nurse practitioners with advanced clinical training who work with nationally-accepted treatment protocols and in conjunction with physicians at a leading health care system in each market.”
The outcome of an Easier and Earlier Access to health care offerings to an employer will ultimately lead to lower health care costs while improving employee productivity to higher levels.
A recent study conducted by a leading actuarial company compared physician office visit charges to RediClinic charges in various markets indicate the following findings:
RediClinic visits are on average 36% less expensive per visit than the average primary care provider.
RediClinic can reduce the average annual claims cost by 4% for an employer, e.g. if an employer spends $10M on health care annually, the anticipated savings can be up to $400,000.
RediClinic can also reduce the indirect costs of absenteeism. Assuming 2 physician visits per employee per year, an average wage per employee and an average RediClinic 30-minute visit time (vs. average MD visit of 2.5 hours), a 100-employee company can potentially reduce the costs associated with absenteeism by tens of thousands of dollars by contracting with RediClinic.
Also, according to RediClinic’s research 98% of employees were satisfied with their clinic experience. Currently, RediClinic Employer partners are located in Atlanta, Houston, Austin and Richmond.
Its time for the employers to choose the right health care company which can bring this double sided advantage of lower health care costs and greater employee productivity.

Secova Opening Second Knowledge Center

The California based HR and Benefits Management services company, Secova, is planning to open its second knowledge center in Chennai, India. It also plans to raise its headcount from the current 300 to 400 by the year end, reports Economic Times.
Secova has added 12 new clients in 2006; including four fortune 500 companies helping it to post a decent 50% annualized growth during the same period. Secova serves companies of sizes ranging from 5,000 to over 50,000 employees.
Secova offers dedicated benefits management services to companies and is hopeful for a big share in the $12 billion benefits administration market.
According to reports, the company processes over 80 million eligibility records, $1 billion in Health care premiums, and manages over 450 vendor/carrier relationships annually.

ACS Renews Contract With BC/BS

ACS announced that it renewed and expanded its outsourcing contract with Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s largest health insurer. Blue shield has been in outsourcing relations with ACS for more than 10 years, providing a variety of transactional services including claims data entry. Under the new contract, the annual claims service volumes are expected to increase by 80%.
“ACS has been a longtime business partner of ours and we are pleased to affirm our partnership by expanding the volume of business we entrust to them” said Jackie Jennifer, Vice President, Customer Service, Horizon BC/BSNJ.
“ACS has become a leading partner to healthcare payers through our ability to adeptly and accurately manage huge volumes of data, provide exceptional service to members and clients, and consistently deliver superior performance that maximizes cost efficiency”, said Tom Blodgett, ACS Senior Managing Director, Business Process Solutions. “Our depth of expertise, experience, and capability in the healthcare BPO arena blends very well with our integrated BPO and ITO capabilities, and we are pleased to be putting all of this to work for Horizon BCBSNJ”.

MetLife Survey

MetLife recently conducted a survey on US employers and employees for its Study of Employees Benefits Trends. This year’s findings make a compelling case that benefits strategy holds the key to one of many employers’ most pressing challenges - the need to recruit and retain the best talent in an increasingly competitive labor market.
Highlights of the Survey are listed below:
* 1,514 benefits decision-makers from organizations with a minimum of 2 employees were interviewed for the survey
* 61 percent of employers surveyed had fewer than 500 employees
* 20 percent employers had 5,000 or more employees
* More than 55 percent of the benefits decision-makers agreed that retaining employees is the main goal in creating a benefits plan
* Controlling costs is secondary
* Among employees who considered themselves “highly satisfied” with their job, 80 percent reported being “highly satisfied” with their benefits
* Seventy-two percent of the 1,202 workers cited workplace benefits as the reason they joined their current employer, and 83 percent cited it as one of the reasons they remain.

ACS Contract with US DOL

ACS, a premier provider of business process outsourcing and information technology solutions, announced today that it has won a $74.8 Million contract for medical bill processing with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) under the U.S. Department of labor (DOL). The three-year contract continues services previously provided by ACS under a sub-contract agreement.
ACS will provide all medical bill processing and support services for the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, the Division of Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation, and the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act programs, all administered by the OWCP.
ACS will provide claims resolutions, prior authorization, provider enrollment and call-center support, as well as imaging and web portal management for the Division of Federal Employee’s Compensation.
Posted in Benefits Administration, Business, Cobra Administration, Compensation Plans, Employee

Deloitte Survey On Healthcare Costs

Deloitte Survey On Healthcare Costs
March 6th, 2007
Respondents to Deloitte Consulting’s 2007 Top Five Total Rewards Priorities Survey indicated that talent issues are beginning to trump concerns about healthcare costs among survey respondents. Healthcare costs are still a pressing priority, but talent shortages represent a greater challenge, according to the survey conducted in collaboration with the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS). The Top Five Total Rewards Priorities Survey has been conducted annually since 1994, sponsored jointly by Deloitte Consulting LLP (Deloitte Consulting) and the ISCEBS, reports CCH
Survey results in brief:
* Survey respondents identified controlling the cost of healthcare benefits as their number one Total Rewards priority
* Companies with revenues of more than $1 billion see attraction and retention of a high-quality workforce as their number one priority for 2007
* 80 percent of respondents identified controlling healthcare costs as one of their Top Five priorities with 36 percent naming it their number one priority
* Concerns about healthcare costs are down significantly from the 2006 results: 91 percent and 55 percent, respectively
* Concern about the ability of companies to attract, motivate, and retain talent continues to rise steadily with 75 percent of respondents listed this priority in their Top Five

IBM BTO Agreement With American Airlines

IBM today announced a 7.5 Year business transformation outsourcing (BTO) agreement with American Airlines to transform and manage many of the airline’s HR functions, reports Marketwire. The value of the deal is reportedly $217 million.
As part of the agreement, IBM will provide American Airlines support for standardized human resources processes including training, recruitment and staffing and HR-related information technology and call center support. IBM will team with Mercer to provide American Airlines and its employees with a comprehensive package of HR services. Mercer will deliver health and benefit, pension plans and compensation administration, in addition to health and benefit and employee communication consulting services.