Strategic Benefit Solutions Uses Verisk Health to Help Lower Healthcare Spending by 14 Percent

January 1, 2011 / 3 min read

Data analytics and clinical intelligence solution helps to identify opportunities for cost reduction and quality improvement

WALTHAM, Mass., March 30, 2010 –Verisk Health, Inc., announced today that Strategic Benefit Solutions (SBS) lowered healthcare spending by 14 percent for one of its health plan clients by implementing Verisk Health’s Explorer solution. Verisk Health is a global leader in identifying, analyzing, and predicting healthcare risk. SBS is a health and welfare benefits brokerage and consulting firm.

“Cutting down on healthcare spending requires timely visibility into your population’s health status and a clear understanding of the opportunities for clinical and financial improvements,” said David Rearick, DO, vice president of medical management, Strategic Benefit Solutions. “Verisk Health’s Explorer fuels our strategic initiatives with clinical insight, population analysis, and member-level detail. And the knowledge we gain allows us to support clients with strategies for providing quality care at a lower price.”

In one client example, Strategic Benefit Solutions implemented Explorer to provide a 65,000-member managed care organization a detailed evaluation of its plan designs, medical management operations and pharmacy benefit contract. Using Explorer’s data analytics, clinical intelligence and member-level drill down capabilities, SBS successfully identified gaps in clinical care for the population and provided expert advice on improving outcomes.

Armed with this knowledge, the plan provided physicians critical patient information, enabling them to review detailed medical records and address individual needs for preventive health or compliance with evidence-based treatment guidelines. As a result, the plan improved the health status of its members, while reducing overall spending by 14 percent.

“Data is the ultimate source of truth and unlocking its power provides a revelatory view of your healthcare landscape,” said Nathan Gunn, MD, chief medical officer at Verisk Health. “Strategic Benefit Solutions uses Explorer to transform data into actionable knowledge — identifying and targeting risk, while proactively seizing opportunities for medical and pharmacy cost savings.”

Strategic Benefit Solutions has also implemented Explorer to provide benefit advisory services to other clients, focusing on cost containment, wellness management, pricing, network analysis, and cross-functional improvement. Using Explorer, SBS now provides clients customized reports that summarize important clinical, financial, and utilization metrics, and presents expert commentary and strategies for improvement.

About Verisk Health

Verisk Health, a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics, leverages healthcare data to help businesses and governments understand their medical and financial risk for the purpose of managing costs and clinical outcomes more effectively. Through the combination of leading predictive science, the finest evidence-based clinical engine, and superior technology, we have created the most extensive independent risk assessment and decision analytics platform in the healthcare industry. Our primary focus is to identify actionable strategies for managing healthcare costs and quality at both the individual and population levels. We consistently research, evaluate, and invest in our business to ensure that we remain leaders in our industry and the most efficient and effective solution for our clients.

About Strategic Benefit Solutions, Inc.

Strategic Benefit Solutions is a health and welfare benefits brokerage and consulting firm founded by industry experts. SBS believes that improving the health status of the population is the only long-term strategy to control healthcare costs and improve productivity. To do this, you need data. Explorer allows SBS to identify, track and measure our success helping employers make health a business strategy. To learn more about SBS and its full array of services, visit www.sbs-benefits.com.

Release: Immediate

Contact:
Trish Tarantino (Verisk Health)
ttarantino@veriskhealth.com
781-693-3784