January 2007
Welcome to the HCML monthly rehabilitation news bulletin for January 2007.
Our aim in this bulletin is to give you an overview of what is happening in rehabilitation, and what is contributing either to early returns to work after injury, or causing injuries and other conditions to last longer than they need to.
We welcome users’ comment or suggestions for new subject areas we might monitor. If you would like to know more about HCML please visit our site
NHS to recover costs from PI
Insurers may have to increase their reserves if the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 is implemented on 29 January 2007. The act, which is still subject to parliamentary approval, aims to recover NHS costs for almost all treatment arising from personal injury.
Richard West, partner at Kennedys said, “Under the old system, motor insurers had to reimburse the NHS for the cost of innocent third parties’ hospital attendance. The new rules extend the scheme to virtually all personal injury cases – not just motor but employers’ liability, public liability, product liability and some cases where the claim arises from disease.” The implementation of the act is however expected to affect consumers, as insurers aim to increase their reserves.
Insurers will have the opportunity to appeal against charges and also to reduce payments on account of contributory negligence form the claimant or existing conditions that may have influenced the treatment provided on the NHS.
Rehab selling needs improvement
Insurers need to sell the benefits of rehabilitation as part of income protection policies, according to Helen Merfield, chief executive of Health & Case Management Limited (HCML).
Merfield said: "There is no doubting the importance of early intervention and rehabilitation but a lack of trust in the real intentions of the insurer acts as a barrier. It is not unusual for the injured person to assume that the insurer is simply offering rehabilitation to avoid paying out the claim.
"Insurers and brokers should be selling rehabilitation and its benefits upfront as part of the policy alongside income protection. The injured person would then expect to be offered rehabilitation should it be required.
She added: "This approach could facilitate early intervention and in turn prevent long-term illness. It is a win-win situation. The injured person would have a better chance of returning to work and the insurer could save money on costly long-term claims and treatment. For this to be successful however, rehabilitation case managers need to be involved before the limitation period on income protection kicks in.
"Case management providers need to educate both brokers and independent financial advisors on the benefits of rehabilitation and early intervention."
Virtual-reality systems help with disability rehabilitation
On most days, a tumour on Zvulun Muola’s spinal cord keeps him confined to a wheelchair, but today he is standing on a small, wooden dinghy gliding downstream, navigating between the islands of a tropical paradise.
Muola, whose legs are partially paralyzed, is among a handful of disabled patients in Israel using the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment. The virtual-reality system puts patients at the helm of a life-size video game, forces them to use atrophied muscles and teaches the basic skills necessary to recover from severe injuries and disorders.
All news reported in this bulletin and on the HCML site is taken from the sources quoted. It is intended to inform readers about the news that has been reported in a given month and is in no way indicative of any attitude or policy of HCML.