Occupational health is clearly evolving and changing as dramatically as the rest of healthcare. The industry is at the crossroads of new opportunities and new delivery systems that respond to the changing demands of employers, carriers and benefit consultants. Perhaps the most significant trends are the ones that are changing all of healthcare: the formation of regional and national delivery networks through mergers and acquisitions, and the threats and opportunities presented by the delivery of healthcare at the local level through national networks or occupational medicine chains. If one need came through loud and clear from speakers and attendees at OHR’s 1999 national conference in Tampa, it was the need for national or very large regional networks of providers. This theme was accented by payor representatives who verified that whenever possible, they are looking to establish single source contracting for all of their healthcare needs on national levels.

Occupational Health Research (OHR) has served as a national resource for occupational programs for over 15 years. Part of OHR’s mission is making occupational medicine providers successful in their markets. As healthcare continues to change, we hope to assist provider systems in successfully responding to those changes. To that end, we are creating the opportunity for members of the SYSTOCŪ network to participate in an expanded national network program that will position them to be more responsive to the needs of large regional and national employers such as UPS, Coca-Cola, WalMart, and Yellow Freight.

The design of this network is based on our success in bringing occupational providers together in an Ohio network developed in response to that state’s managed care mandate. The national network will be provider-friendly while offering employers the opportunity for improved outcomes and reporting nationally or across large geographic regions for workers' compensation and elective services. Like the Ohio network, the national network will be based upon the following fundamentals:

• Respect for the local providers and their relationship with the local employers.
• Contracting focused on superior outcomes rather than on discounts or standardization of delivery models.
• Superior, real-time, information systems that allow for communication at both the local and national levels.

In Ohio this approach has resulted in one of the highest rated managed care organizations in the state, with outcomes that far exceed those of more traditional models. Providers who participate in the network find it to be friendly and supportive of their autonomy while affording them the opportunity to participate in contracts which they could not otherwise service.

OHR anticipates this network will bring significant advantages to the individual occupational health provider. For example:

• Opportunities to participate in national and regional contracts without losing local control, autonomy, and identity.
• Opportunities to purchase supplies and services at deeply discounted rates that are negotiated based upon the combined volume of over 400 clinics nationally. Prices for drug testing services, pharmacy, supplies, and durable equipment will likely be lower than individual providers can obtain independently.
• Improved efficiencies in operations through improved operating systems.
• Opportunity for providers to selectively outsource and centralize functions such as billing, injury management, and medical review (MRO). These options, which can lower per-patient cost for the provider, will be made available as requested by individual providers.

Participation in the network will not require the provider to make any up-front investment. There will be no administrative fees or annual dues for admission to the network. Once enrolled as a provider in the network, the provider will not be financially obligated to anything unless the network is successful in bringing contracts to the provider.