Glendive Medical Center Honored for Safety Record

Seriously EXCELLENT News!

Midland Claims Service, Inc and Industrial Injury Claims^® have been working with a self-insured group in Montana since late 2001, Montana Health Network Workers' Compensation Insurance Trust ("MHN"). MCSi / IIC is the third party claims administrator for MHN in the state of MT. The MHN group is one of the leading self-insured groups in the US and has achieve world class results in one of the toughest, most expensive states in the US, Montana (see the Oregon Premium Survey 2011, MT ranked as the highest premium cost in the US). Through the team comprised of MHN's management, its WC Committee, medical case management staff, external staff including Vocational Rehab providers and the claism TPA, MHN has held their number of lost time days very low, significantly reduced the number of individuals on temporary disability and increased the rate of SAW/RTW modified duty available during the period of healing to nearly 100%. In fact, if one were to take the average cost per claim from a leading Fund in Montana for lost time / impairment claims and divide by 5, you'd have an idea of how MHN has done an amazing job at keeping costs under control. It isn't premium to MHN or its members, the amounts paid on claims are 'real' dollars. Any savings that can be made can be moved back into salaries for nurses and doctors, medications, computer systesm and medical equipment for the many hospitals, clinic and homes for the aged that are members of the Trust.

Safety has been a consistent theme of MHN for more than a decade. MCSi and Industrial Injury Claims(R) is a proponent of safety also, having served as a sponsor of 60 Summits in Montana and Mr. Marsh participating in and serving on the Board of WorkSafeMT since its inception. Now, an MHN facility, Glendive Medical Center, has been honored by the State of Montana for its safety record. What an accomplishment! The following article is from the Glendive newspaper...

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GMC earns prestigious safety award
Ranger – Review – Glendive – July 29, 2012
Glendive Medical Center received a prestigious award Thursday morning for something it did not do. In fact GMC has been so effective at not causing work-place injuries or health problems that Tammy Lynn and Mike Preller of the Montana Safety and Health Bureau were in town to praise GMC and present it with an award.
Preller explained the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program awarded through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is the highest level of honor for workplace safety
available to small businesses. OSHA defines a small business as having less than 500 employees.

*'I don't know if everyone realizes how prestigious this is," he said. "There are only six SHARP certificates in Montana and GMC has four of them." GMC received four separate awards based on its operating units. Gabert Clinic, the acute care hospital, home health and hospice and the Heritage were all recognized. "Extended care and Eastern Montana Veterans Home are the only two units not awarded," Preller said. "We want to see all six and think it is highly possible."

The most important aspect of the award is the fact that employees are not getting hurt, according to Preller. "Employees are the most valuable resource in the business," he said. "Injuries impact your ability to provide good quality care."

Todd Opp, executive director of ancillary services at GMC, has lead the effort and accepted the award. "It isn't a flip of the switch," he said. "It's a cultural change within an organization where safety
becomes so much more important." Opp also recognized Sam Durham for his work as facility manager. "He's the one on these tours and is very diligent about getting corrections done," he said.
The process that led to the award began about 10 years ago when Dan Tony, a retired official with the state of Montana discussed a voluntary survey with Opp. "In health care we are surveyed all the time," Opp said. "To volunteer for another was not easy."

As the company made progress in its safety programs, it received the Governor's Safety Award in 2009. "The last step was lowering our worker's comp numbers," he said. He added lost-time injuries and restricted duty were items that had to be reduced. One benefit of the designation is a reprieve from OSHA inspections for at least two years. However, the real achievement is lower costs for GMC. "One of my visions for the health care system is that we need to do a better job of containing costs," Sen. Max Baucus said in a statement. "GMC's achievement will save oney by lowering worker's compensation insurance premiums, improving worker retention and reducing costly turnover." Chief Executive Officer Scott Duke said the award is nice, but the impact is what counts. "We are honored to receive this recognition on behalf of our patients and community," he said. "We didn't seek out an award. We sought out to improve our safety standards... We look forward to continuing on the safety journey." Preller said the recognition is also noteworthy because it is the first to be received in Eastern Montana. Sen. Jon Tester expressed a similar view. “Folks living in rural areas tend to get the short end of the stick when it comes to quality health care and a safe and healthy environment,” he said in a statement. “But this award proves that the level of care folks in Glendive receive is world-class.”