(Image credit: Anastasia Skyler/Unsplash.)
FINEOS (Dublin), a provider of enterprise core software for the life, accident and health industry, has formed a partnership with Osara Health, a New York-based digital health platform founded by oncologists, to enhance the care experience for individuals dealing with cancer. The partnership will offer integration of additional services for cancer patients and caregivers to insurance carriers using the FINEOS Platform for group, voluntary, individual and absence.
Chuck Johnston, Chief Marketing Officer, FINEOS.
Osara Health’s Cancer Coach initiative has demonstrated significant ability to improve overall return-to-work rates by 73 percent, and average time to return to work by 16.5 weeks in a recent Australian study. FINEOS reports that Osara Health plans to replicate this study in the U.S. market over the coming months. The program also has shown enhancements for patients in pain relief, fatigue reduction, emotional well-being, mental health, and overall quality of life. Triggered by physician diagnosis codes linked to cancer/critical illness coverage, participation is conducted digitally, depending on what best meets the individual’s needs. The recently introduced Cancer Caregivers program provides services for caregivers, enabling them to sustain employment and maintain productivity.
FINEOS characterizes its partnership with Osara Health as meeting the needs of U.S. insurers look to bend the cost curve in one of the nation’s two most expensive medical claims areas while providing much-needed patient and family support. FINEOS and Osara Health say they expect that their integration will increase program utilization rates for voluntary critical illness products and supplemental insurance products such as short-term disability (STD) using the automation capabilities of FINEOS Claims.
The companies say their integration into process flows will reduce the delay between diagnosis and receiving support by 3 months, helping individuals with cancer to achieve better health outcomes and avoid unnecessary financial stress by allowing them to return to work sooner. The program is offered both by insurers as a part of their product bundle and by employers directly where appropriate.
“I can tell any number of stories about people who didn’t realize they had certain supplemental insurance coverages when they needed it,” comments Chuck Johnston, Chief Marketing Officer, FINEOS. “Our alliance with Osara Health will make sure that doesn’t happen, providing this support for someone with a cancer diagnosis right away. This fits squarely within our FINEOS purpose to help our customers care for the people they serve using superior insurance technology.”
Tim Atkins, co-founder and COO of Osara Health, says that the partnership signifies the collaboration between two experts in their fields coming together to facilitate the shared goal of faster care access for members at time of claim.
Empowering Cancer Patients
Tim Atkins, Co-Founder and COO, Osara Health.
“We are experts in providing virtual care and eliciting behavior change in the cancer field. This partnership and integration will ultimately deliver a better experience for individuals dealing with cancer and their caregivers,” Atkins comments. “At Osara Health, we recognize that patients who actively engage in their health care tend to achieve superior outcomes. Consequently, we endeavored to develop a solution that empowers individuals to proactively participate in their care journey. With the growth of our insurer customer base, we also acknowledged the need to address the challenge of promptly enrolling eligible members in programs while simultaneously streamlining the administrative process. Many of our insurer partners have conveyed that integrations like this one will contribute to a more streamlined administrative experience for their claims teams.”
FINEOS’ alliance with Osara Health is the second partnership with a provider of enhanced support services the company has announced this year. It has a similar arrangement with Empathy (New York) to provide support to grieving life insurance beneficiaries following loved ones’ deaths.
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