Aren't CMO services really only helpful to large companies?

The size of a company has little to do with the need for medical expertise. Any company responsible for providing health benefits needs some type of medical input. Large companies certainly pay more annually for health benefits, but as a percentage of total earnings, smaller companies are often paying more for member health than their larger competitors. Any company, regardless of its size, who struggles with their healthcare costs or experiences frustrations in their lack of medical guidance can benefit from physician expertise.

Does MyChiefMD give medical care to my employees?

No. Although we are licensed physicians with the ability to provide medical care, we provide no direct medical treatment to you or your staff. There are many reasons for this decision and all of them are based on ethics and appropriate professionalism. Medical therapy is a highly individualized experience. The role of a Chief Medical Officer (i.e. our services) is to assess the larger picture for your organization and make recommendations accordingly.

We have been asked to weigh in on specific cases for our clients and the approach to these requests depends on many variables. If you are our client and concerns arise about specific individuals, we will work with you as appropriate to assist with the issue - but we will not diagnose, treat, or make referrals for individuals.

How does MyChiefMD handle data privacy and protect the sensitive information of our employees?

Medical privacy and data security are paramount in healthcare. We take the privacy of your organization and its members seriously. Therefore, our data solutions meet HIPAA and HITECH standards.

After entering a formal agreement with us and BEFORE any sensitive information is shared, our technology team works with your company to secure the steps necessary for data transfers between our organizations. Since most of our work with you involves frequent exchanges of sensitive information, these connections tend to be ongoing so our service operates efficiently. However, since clients have a variety of service needs, we do not decide on the details of our data sharing until we know what works best for the both of us.

You promote MyChiefMD as an executive-to-executive service. What does that mean?

We try hard to have our clients think of us as a member of their executive team - as if we were hired as their CMO with an office down the hall. Therefore, our services are provided by licensed physicians and we communicate directly with the executives of your organization. While there is no set rule on who we work directly with, we frequently work with CFO's and Human Resource leaders. Our goal is to communicate effectively and frequently with the decision-makers.

How often do you meet with clients?

The frequency of scheduled meetings depends largely on you. We recognize the unpredictability of healthcare and we recognize the very predictable benefits cycle. Some clients prefer to meet with us on an as-needed basis while others want the option of having monthly or quarterly meetings in addition to as-needed interactions. It really depends on what your company wants.

For ongoing accounts, we recommend at least quarterly meetings.

Do you hold in-person meetings or participate in client meetings with other service providers?

We are always open to in-person meetings with our clients. Sometimes logistics makes this a challenge for both parties and sometimes in-person discussions are not needed to resolve the question at hand, but our doctors conduct face-to-face meetings as indicated. Additionally, much of our work involves our clients third-party contracted services. When appropriate and requested, we attend these meetings with our clients as their medical representative.

How often does MyChiefMD assess our company's "status"?

For ongoing accounts, we prefer having continuous data feeds so we can monitor your company's health status and give feedback in near-real time. This may involve us working with your claims processor and others on your behalf to get access to the information needed to work as your medical representative. When there are obstacles to this, we work directly with you to find the best resolution. Since we are your advocate, the more information we have, and the faster we get it, the more informed you are.

Because our recommendations are based on more that just computer output of your data (remember, we assess your population health and factor in the subjective things that make your situation unique), our data analysis reaches beyond electronic algorithms.

Besides medical doctors, does MyChiefMD use other clinical staff to conduct analytics or manage accounts?

No. Much like the individual roles and talents that make most industries work well, we recognize and respect the importance of all healthcare providers and their value to the medical system. Based on our experience from working in the employer space as well as feedback from industry experts, we believe there is undeniable need for physician-level expertise in the benefits/business world. Additionally, we believe the lack of physician involvement can contribute to poor decision-making. We also recognize our assessments are just one piece to the complexity of benefits, which is why our goal is to give clients unbiased information that they can use to reach healthy company decisions. Because this is our standard, we rely on medical doctors for our client-facing service.

Our benefits advisors don't believe we need your service. What do you think?

Reactions to our service can vary depending on who you ask. We think there are several explanations for this. The goal of our work is very simple - we want employers to have insight and transparency into the health of their company and the medical "services" they hire to care for their employees. It's that simple.

We worked with reputable brokers and third-party providers on behalf of clients and, when these parties are aligned, everyone benefits from the collaboration. On the other hand, we have, at times, met resistance. This is especially true when it comes to sharing information about services or outcomes. While such situations are rare, we take notice.

Our role is to be your advocate and to bring you insights you otherwise may not get. We don't make decisions for your business and we can't "force" services you use to work with us. If we encounter obstacles to delivering the service you've hired us to do, we quickly bring those matters to your attention and work directly with you for a solution.

Do you work with all companies who inquire about your service?

Business majors may not like our answer but the truth is there are times when we advise clients not to elect our long-term service. When we become partnered with certain companies (especially newer startups looking for health expertise or well-established organizations who've hit a bump in an otherwise smooth road) we may recommend they partner with us on a limited basis. Startups, for example, can be at a pivotal point and need guidance in the moment but aren't ready for our continual involvement - not to mention we are sensitive to their budgets and believe they would be better served investing their resources differently. Other times, companies really need our help for a short period until they regroup and return to a process that was previously working well for them. In such a case, work with them until their needs are met and then encourage them to keep our number handy. But there can be rare times when we feel the expectation of a potential client exceeds what we believe is reasonable achieve. So, for the betterment of both groups, we elect not to take them on as a client. This may seem strange to some, but for our service to work well, we must operate in lockstep with our clients - which starts with mutual goals.

Because we don't solicit businesses or use commissioned sales staff, when potential clients seek us out it's because they are frustrated and need our help. So, we provide it.

How do you help clients assess third-party member services?

Third-party employer health services (Wellness Programs, Diabetic Programs, Large Case/"Care" Management, Behavioral Health, etc.) are plentiful. Depending on the provider, they typically use set criteria to identify potential "patients" from your covered lives and then perform a variety of services. Some of these agencies may attempt to add additional services (data-analytics, pharmacy, travel health, telemedicine, etc.) through their determination of your population's needs. Some employers receive a degree of self-reported feedback on the success of these services measuring a variety of metrics (number enrolled, length of engagement, self-determined ROI and/or cost savings, etc.).

Unlike other areas of business where products or services can be purchased and something tangible lets leadership know they got what they paid for (we ordered 5 widgets and we received 5 widgets), assessing the "success" of programs such as these is far more complex. PHI protections and proprietary tools can keep employers far enough removed that determining the true impact of these services is near impossible - even when these programs are quite successful.

When we assess your population's health, we give you an unaltered, unfiltered, and unbiased assessment of where things stand and what you should expect from the services you elect (based on those provider's promises). Often this work can validate third-party reporting to you. And if it doesn't, you are more informed on what future decisions make sense for your company.

Our third-party vendor has a medical director. So is MyChiefMD duplicating services?

If a company is a health provider, they should have a medical director on staff. In fact, depending on the situation it may be the law. But how involved that medical director is with that service company, and with you the customer, can vary greatly.

More important, medical directors for your third-party services are employed by those services and work on behalf of those services. That in no way is to imply they are not providing proper oversight to help your employees. We are just pointing out the responsibility of these medical experts is to the wellness of their company. It is all the more reason you, a business owner and employer, need internal medical expertise advocating for your business health.

When situations arise and we need to work with third-parties on your behalf, having physician-to-physician communication can be highly productive and lead to problem resolution much faster than by more conventional means. And if there are those rare times where disagreements arise from a business perspective, you have the assurance you're staff is getting the proper medical representation they deserve.

Do you recommend any third-party services?

While we do have experience with a variety of member service vendors, we do NOT specifically recommend individual providers to our clients. Additionally, MyChiefMD has no financial relationship with any outside agency (brokers, third-party services, etc.) and we are in no way incentivized to suggest general or specific services (or to pursued against services).

How are your services funded?

We are well aware of the challenges of running a business, especially when it comes to money management. And most businesses already feel like health care costs more than it should, so they view our costs as an additive to that expense - we don't believe that's how it should be seen but we appreciate why it is. We offer three pricing structures which you can elect from based on the extent of service you expect from us and what makes the best sense for your company.