"Why Are Independent Review Organizations Necessary," Explains AllMed Healthcare's Dr. Skip Freedman
AllMed Healthcare’s Dr. Skip Freedman authors article published in the most recent issue of The Self-Insurer Magazine.
(PRWEB) June 19, 2005 -- AllMed Healthcare’s Dr. Skip Freedman has authored
an article that has been published in the most recent issue of The Self-Insurer
Magazine, entitled “How IRO’s Keep Healthcare Costs Down—and Patients Get the
Right Care.” In the article, Dr. Freedman defines the role of “Independent
Review Organizations” (IRO) and offers a detailed analysis on the many benefits
that IROs provide to their clients. The following excerpts are from Dr.
Friedman’s article:
What is an Independent Review
Organization?
“An Independent Review Organization (IRO) is an
intermediary that provides a ready source of timely, expert medical opinion that
can be used to weigh both the medical and insurance sides of healthcare claims
decisions. To deliver this, an IRO provides access to a breadth of specialist
physicians who provide unbiased expertise that is otherwise unavailable to large
self-insured companies handling their own claims management or associations and
small to mid-sized companies using third-party administrators
(TPA's).”
When should companies use Independent Review
Organizations?
“Companies… using third-party administrators can turn to
IROs whenever they need to tap into deeper medical expertise for an objective
approval or denial of a claim based on medical fact, not anecdotal
evidence.”
How can an Independent Review Organization reduce healthcare
costs?
“As treatment costs, complexity and medical specialization
increase, these factors may force claims managers to err on the side of paying
unnecessary or questionable claims because they lack access to right medical
expertise for making informed decisions within an acceptable timeframe. In such
cases, outsourcing medical decision to an IRO can eliminate unnecessary
treatments and have a dramatic impact on lowering healthcare claims
costs”
To read the entire article, please click on the following link: http://www.allmedmd.com/company/download/cm_irocost.htm?prweb
About
AllMed Healthcare Management:
Founded in 1995, AllMed is a URAC-accredited
Independent Review Organization (IRO) serving insurance payers, providers, TPAs
and claims managers nationwide. Reviews are conducted by board-certified
physicians in active practice. AllMed's growing customer base includes premier
organizations, such as Educator's Mutual Life, IMS Managed Care, Tenet
Healthcare Corporation, HealthGuard, several Blue Cross Blue Shield
organizations, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, Allianz and many other leading
healthcare payers.
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb252325.htm