How Canadian Insurers and Plan Sponsors are Helping Members
Get Answers and the Right Care
Of the thousands of parts that make up our cars, the spare tire is often the one that we think of least. It’s hidden from sight, and only enters our minds on that dreaded day when we’re stranded on the side of a highway, during a blizzard, staring at a flat. We only think of it “in the unlikely event.”
When it comes to our health, we’re often left struggling to get answers when faced with an unexpected or life changing diagnosis or illness. We aren’t thinking of the tools and resources we need or how to prepare “in the unlikely event.” We only think of it after we get sick, when we are also coping with so many other factors.
This is a place called “medical uncertainty.” It’s here where too many find themselves asking questions like:
“Where do I turn if I can’t confirm my diagnosis?”
“How do I get a second opinion?”
“How do I find the best specialist for my condition?”
“How do I make sure I’m getting the best possible care?”
In a recent survey commissioned by CARP and the Sheridan Centre for Elder Research, 78 percent of Canadians believe that navigating our health system can be a challenge. For those living with a chronic condition, like hypertension or diabetes, medical uncertainty has additional physical, emotional, and financial implications. For a little context, three in five Canadians over the age of 20 have at least one chronic condition.
Almost 30 years ago, Best Doctors began as a company that asked, “What if we could combine the wisdom of the brightest minds in medicine with the power of the best technologies to make sure every patient got the right diagnosis and the best treatment plan?” Since then, Best Doctors has helped hundreds of thousands of people around the world change the way they address medical uncertainty.
Here’s how it works: When an employee or a covered family member is facing medical uncertainty – such as a diagnosis of cancer, heart disease or even lower back pain, they reach out, and immediately a team is put in motion. A combination of nurses, case managers, and specialists rated in the top 5% of their specialty – the best of the best physicians – are assembled and will guide them through the process to gather every bit of available information and help them get the answers that could often seem so elusive.
Why is this so valuable? An eye opening 37% of all cases reviewed by Best Doctors require a changed or refined diagnosis. Furthermore, in 3 out of every 4 cases, the treatment plan is modified. Because of an expert review – which for cancer cases includes a re-testing of the pathology – patients can feel confident that they will be taking the right course of action for their health and avoid the painful toll of inappropriate or unnecessary treatment. Imagine being told that the only solution to your lower back pain is a complex and risky surgery, or that your recent gastrointestinal pain is the result of cancer that must be aggressively treated immediately. How can you be sure that the diagnosis is correct or that this treatment plan is the best solution? In addition to improving real health outcomes and delivering peace of mind, these solutions deliver financial savings and ensure that employees are healthy and productive. Patients who get this level of guidance from top physicians and the latest research are far less likely to miss days at work, or come to work while ill.
It takes 29 hours a day to stay up to date with the latest medical literature, and 17 years for science to be translated into clinical best practice. Even the best doctors need help to ensure that no stone is left unturned, and breakthroughs in AI are helping to make that a reality. Best Doctors uses cognitive computing – scanning millions of documents in seconds – to ensure that every option (even one the treating physician hasn’t heard of yet) is considered.
Every day, far too many people struggle with medical uncertainty. It’s a place where the questions outnumber the answers, and people are left feeling lost about their diagnosis and care. It’s a domino effect where mistakes in care happen, performance is affected, and work days are missed. However, Best Doctors continues to reverse that cycle across leading organizations around the world and is helping employees get the answers they need.
Find out today if your organization has access to Best Doctors and hear more inspiring stories about those whose lives have been positively changed at BestDoctors.com/Canada.
