Workers’ Compensation Industry – InTouch Magazine
The slogan “Injuries Don’t Happen by Appointment” represents the true mission of the orthopedic urgent care center
OrthoNOW. The practice has implemented a ground-breaking concept that is already revolu-tionizing the worker’s compensation industry. Frustrated by the dilemma patients face when looking for specialty doctors during emergencies, a group of Orthopaedic surgeons decided to devel-op an urgent care center where patients can walk-in and be treated immediately by a specialist.
OrthoNOW’s concept has solved the problem pa-tients experience when they find themselves hav-ing to compromise quality of care for immediate assistance –in an urgent care center—, or having to wait longer to receive higher quality care in a traditional Orthopaedic practice. Other physicians have already embraced the OrthoNOW model, and this has led to the creation of a franchise with the goal of increasing access to this innovative concept. Workers’ Compensation patients, em-ployers, and claims professionals can greatly bene-fit from this model by saving time, money, and pain.
One key problem for patients is the need to wait days in order to see the appropriate specialist for their injury. Patients with orthopaedic medical needs usually have to wait in extreme pain to be treated by the proper physician. This often causes the injury to get worse and creates more obstacles to achieve long term recovery. OrthoNOW pro-vides immediate care 6 days a week with no ap-pointments needed, this allows most patients to be treated in less than an hour by a sports medi-cine, or orthopaedic, specialist, who can diagnose and recommend the appropriate treatment imme-diately.
Workers’ Compensation Industry
In the Workers’ Compensation industry, employers seek providers that adhere to the local and federal guidelines, that are co-mitted to providing excellent medical care, and that adapt to the changing needs of their organizations. As an experienced provider to the workers’ compensation industry, Or-thoNOW is flexible, and capable of providing and excellent experience to injured workers.
OrthoNOW is making a difference by solving a problem that was affecting, not only patients, but causing employers to waste thousands of dollars in longer and inappropriate treat-ments that usually end up causing more pain, instead of healing the patient.
This idea is revolutionizing the industry. How-ever, as its founder, Dr. Alejandro Badia states, the workers’ compensation system is not used to this type of concept, and this is causing a slow transition for many workers’ compensation clients.
OrthoNOW hopes that once more employers realize the benefits of utilizing their services, they will transition into this innovative idea of referring patients to a high quality orthopae-dic urgent care center. Those who have al-ready experienced the convenience of having an Orthopaedic urgent care center, are very satisfied with the outcomes. Adjusters and case managers are finding OrthoNOW’s ser-vices useful in their quest for getting the pa-tient back to work quickly.
An adjuster from Clear View Case
Management, Inc. recommends the center to claims professionals.
“Dr. Badia understands the complexities of the workers’ compensation arena. He has produced excellent outcomes in patient recovery leading to successful return to work of my patients. Dr. Badia recently opened OrthoNow, an orthopedic urgent care walk-in clinic. As a result, I have referred my workers’ compensation cases to OrthoNow not only for walk in orthopedic care but also for scheduled evaluations by an orthopedic physician that is avail-able in the clinic during business hours. The results have also been excellent. The communication of the clinic’s physician with me, as a case manager, has been superior. The medical documentation has been comprehensive with timely submission. The staff at OrthoNow has been very communicative with an understanding of the urgency surrounding workers’ compensation cases.”
Innovation
OrthoNOW’s brand is also setting an ex-ample of the power of effective branding. Injured patients who use their services will no longer associate Orthopaedic treatment with a negative experience because of the way OrthoNOW has revolutionized the process. Now, patients have an alternative to the emergency room and will receive immediate quality care that will allow them to leave the urgent center with a smile on their face. Or-thoNOW has used a smiling face for its logo in order to demonstrate to patients that the treatment and recovery from an orthopedic related injury can be made into a posi-tive experience with the appropriate care. When it comes to technology and staying connected to patients, OrthoNOW has it covered with their mobile application. The mobile app provides information about the center, a list of specialties, services, videos of procedures, and contact information. In conclusion, OrthoNOW’s clever service model is positively impacting the industry and revolution-izing care because, truly, injuries rarely happen by ap-pointment.
By Estefania Martinez
InTouch With Todays Work Comp Professionals Magazine Workers Compensation