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Showing posts with the label workplace injury

What is a Pharmacy Benefit Manager?

 Pharmacy Benefit Managers coordinate between pharmacies, insurance carriers, and other third party administrators in order to  guarantee payment and process pharmacy claims. Pharmacy Benefit Managers are shortened to PBMs, and the number of claims processed by PBMs have grown exponentially in the past decade.  In fact, a PBM probably is responsible for processing the medications your doctor writes every month. And yet, you probably don't even know the name of the company that touches every one of your claims and stores your personal health information (PHI). Although PBMs are engaged in processing your medication they do not work for the patient and they have no interest in the standard of your healthcare.  The three largest PBMs in the industry are CVS Caremark, Cigna (Express Scripts), and United Health Group (OptumRX). These PBMs handle private insurance, medicare, worker's compensation, and auto no-fault.  Drugchannels.net estimates for 2020 ...The big three PBMs—CVS Heal

Patients are at the center of a complicated web...

Communication is key in any successful relationship but it's especially important in the world of healthcare.  Patients are at the center of a complicated web of providers, insurance carriers, third party administrators, pharmacy benefit managers, claim adjusters, and federal regulation.  The meeting between a patient and their trusted doctor is only the beginning of a long and complicated journey.  Imagine a common healthcare scenario, such as a doctor's visit for a sore shoulder or an infected cut.  The meeting may last no more than fifteen minutes, but it sets off a complicated chain of events, navigating a system of payee/payor relationships, medical providers, and information processors. In the case of an infected cut, the doctor prescribes two antibiotics, a pill and an ointment, and electronically transmits prescriptions to the pharmacy on file.  A new provider--the pharmacist--has just been invited to the relationship. Here a new series of complications is introduced: i