Our people come up with great ideas for solving the many complex and costly problems our customers face. Their dedication is rooted in a strong commitment to apply their expertise to serve the schools, health care organizations, and communities where they work and live. It’s summed up in our company tagline: “Innovative Solutions. Enduring Principles.”
Keenan is both proud and humbled that Business Insurance has recognized two great innovations developed by our professionals. The two US Insurance Awards were presented for Child Abuse Prevention resources through our School Safety Center in the Community Outreach Project (Pro Bono) category; and for our Saving The Opiate Patient (STOP) intervention program in the Managed Care Provider Team of the Year category. These two initiatives target critical issues that not only confront our clients, but our greater society as well.
Child Abuse Prevention
To meet the challenge to get all California school districts – whether they are our client or not – the essential training for protecting children within the education community, our team developed the School Safety Center Abuse Prevention resources. The portal was made available at no cost to every school, for all teachers, parents, substitutes and volunteers. In total, this child abuse prevention initiative resulted in 949,810 school staff completing mandatory reporter courses, saving California schools an estimated $19 million in training expense.
Workers’ Compensation Opiate Intervention
Our workers’ compensation team implemented the STOP program under our managed care protocols to help injured workers avoid addiction to opioid pain medication and facilitate an earlier return to work. The reviews focus on preventing medication overutilization and gaining faster access to treatment that improves the injured workers’ medical and occupational outcome. In one year, their efforts reduced narcotics utilization by 21% and reduced pharmacy expenses by more than $5 million.
We thank Business Insurance for these honors, but also for helping to raise awareness of these important issues. Solving big, difficult problems starts with making one small change at a time. The initial success of these efforts encourages our associates to work toward overcoming major challenges and continue promoting safer places to work, live, and learn.
About Tim Crawford
Tim Crawford worked at Keenan for more than 20 years and is now a freelance writer in Santa Fe, NM, Tim consults for the company on communication, media relations and health care reform projects.