Insights
MSK care is too expensive (in ways you may not have considered)
MSK. A three-letter abbreviation for musculoskeletal conditions (back, hips, knees, shoulders) that rings in the mind of disability and employee benefits professionals. High-cost claimants. Long leave periods. Productivity diminished. Employees lost. Bills escalated. Lives changed. According to the Integrated Benefits Institute, MSK-related issues lead to: 756k short-term disability claims each year in the US (that’s…
Read MoreTrainwreck-Proofing & Cost Containment in Healthcare
Nearly everyone in employee benefits can immediately think of a case that made cost containment in healthcare impossible. Maybe they call it a high-cost claimant. Or perhaps they think of it as a trainwreck case. Protect your people. Protect your plans with Goldfinch Health. Find out how we make surgery forgettable. The patient faced a…
Read MoreOpioids, Women & Employee Benefit Strategies
You won’t find the face of the opioid crisis in an unemployed 28 year-old man; it’s an employed and insured 52 year-old woman. And that can be helped with the right employee benefit strategies. How Much Is Outdated Surgery Costing Your Company? Find out now. That means employers could bring an end to this era.…
Read MoreThe Power of an ERAS Protocol Checklist
Recently, I spoke with a physician leader championing the implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS protocols) across an 11-hospital system. What is ERAS Protocol? The ERAS protocol emerged as a clinically-valid, patient-centric rethinking of the standard surgery experience 15-plus years ago. Over 4,000 articles have been published in the medical literature to support the…
Read MoreDemand 21st Century Surgery with Healthcare Advocacy
It sounded like a miracle, but it wasn’t — it was a result of sound healthcare advocacy on behalf of a patient. One day after undergoing a colorectal operation to remove cancer, the patient was up and about and asking to go home. Don’t let your employees, your plans, or your patients suffer through second-rate surgeries.…
Read MoreFinding Health Equity in Surgery and Recovery
Finding Health Equity in Surgery and Recovery Bias, both unintentional and intentional, contribute to differences in the quality of care received by patients in the United States. The consequences of these disparities can be catastrophic to patients and their families. A 2002 report to Congress –just as relevant today as it was 20 years ago—detailed…
Read MoreThe Risk of Costly Suboptimal Surgery Has Never Been Greater
The Risk of Suboptimal Surgery Has Never Been Greater (due to Covid-19) Thankfully, rays of sunlight have appeared through the darkness of the Covid-19 pandemic. As life returns to “normal,” healthcare no doubt will resume traditional patterns as well. This leaves business, employee benefits and human resource leaders facing critical questions, including: How do I…
Read MoreWhat VCRs and Outdated Surgery Instructions Have in Common
What VCRs and Outdated Surgery Instructions Have in Common By Mario Leyba, MD It seemed innocent enough. A pre-surgery instruction sheet handed to a Goldfinch patient several weeks ago, in advance of a procedure we eventually helped the patient to successfully navigate. If you’ve had surgery yourself—or seen a loved one go through it—you’ve probably…
Read MoreAn Olympic-Sized Innovation
An Olympic-Sized Innovation Dick Fosbury had an idea. An engineering student moonlighting as a high jumper at the 1968 Olympics, Fosbury put his science background to work. Rather than take the conventional approach of jumping over the bar with a scissorkick, what if instead he went over the bar backwards, head-first? That’s right, backwards. And…
Read MorePulling Back the Curtain on Physician Referrals
Pulling Back the Curtain on Physician Referrals Over 100,000 times today in the United States, a visit between a patient and his/her physician ended with something like this: “I recommend you speak with a surgeon.” That simple statement sets a complex set of wheels in motion, not the least of which are the wheels turning…
Read More