21 years of Cigna Managed Care in the UK

Introduction

In April, we celebrated 21 years of Cigna Managed Care in the UK. We're proud to say that we were the first UK health insurer to use nurses to manage patient care and employer healthcare costs. Since then our managed care approach has been continuously evolving in line with changing healthcare issues and employer needs.

21 years on and we're changing our messaging to promote all the elements of our care management approach. At the same time, we're moving away from describing our approach as managed care. This helps us clearly show how Cigna is different from other medical scheme providers in the UK.

Managed care has become a generic term in the UK healthcare market. For us, it's all about the 'i' words. Individual, intelligent and innovative – our unique approach to managing employer healthcare plans.

• We focus on the individuals rather than just claims.
• We use intelligent care pathways.
• We develop innovative care management techniques.

Individual claims management

To help us lead the way, we use a range of nurse led support services, which we refer to as Individual Claims Management. From the moment a claim is made, the nurses are there to give confidential guidance and reassurance. They work with the members, the consultants and the hospitals on each case and actively look for ways to manage the treatment costs and optimise patient care.

The nurses will make sure any recommended diagnostics or treatments are appropriate for the member's condition and will also use our optimal recovery guidelines to make sure the member's time spent in hospital is appropriate for the level of treatment received.

Intelligent care pathways

Our care management approach includes Intelligent Care Pathways where early intervention is a key focus. The earlier you can treat a condition, the faster, better and more cost effective the recovery will be. To achieve this, in recent years we have introduced referrals from GP's and Occupational Health Physicians to cognitive behavioural therapy for mild and moderate depression and anxiety. We've also allowed GP's to refer members directly for diagnostics and investigations, which avoids any unnecessary consultation costs and time away from work. For physiotherapy, we launched fast track self referrals, via our network partner, Nuffield Health, who have developed clinically validated care pathways for our members.

Innovative care management

To help our members get the most from the healthcare system, our nurses are here to give advice and support as part of our Innovative Care Management.

Where we are innovative is that we don't direct our members towards any particular treatment setting. Instead, we offer choice. When the NHS provides the most appropriate treatment setting, we can support our members through our Care Coordination Programme. This can include covering costs such as childcare, travel and accommodation or by providing home help. Using this creative approach, our solutions make sure our members are supported through their difficult time.

All of these solutions help to deliver savings on the cost of treatment for the employer's claims fund. Over a 12 month period, our clients saved over £5.4 million. For every £1.00 our clients spend on our care management service, they save an average of £3.17! This is truly market leading.

These are just a few of the i words that make Cigna's care management approach better than others in the UK medical scheme market.

We're so proud of what we've achieved over the last 21 years, at Cigna we really are Individual, Intelligent and Innovative!