Don't compromise your employees'
health care to save a few pennies.

Negotiating an employee health care plan is a very complex issue for CEOs and Human Resource Directors. Often your decision comes down to the bottom line cost. But have you asked all the questions, and are you satisfied with the answers?

It's become a common practice for HMOs, PPOs and other health plans to "carve out" laboratory services. This means that while all other health care providers offered by the plan are local, lab tests must be sent to a large-volume commercial lab out of town. This practice may have a small influence on the bottom line cost of the plan, but it can result in a reduction in medical care for your employees and hidden costs for you.

An out-of-town lab provider:

• Can be less convenient, and time consuming, for your employees if it means they have to go out of town to have specimens drawn for testing.
• Can lengthen the amount of time it takes to receive the results and start treatment.
• Can compromise the integrity of the specimen if it travels long distances in varying conditions, and this can make time-consuming re-testing necessary.
• Can make it difficult, even impossible, for your employee or his doctor to reach a pathologist for consultation if there are questions about the results.

The longer your employees or their dependents wait for lab results, the longer they will be away from the job. And isn't that just what you're trying to avoid? Lab work is less than 6 to 7% of the overall cost of health care, so in reality, the few pennies you save using an out-of-town lab may be offset by the time lost while your employee waits for lab results.