Cigna is rolling out a service designed to help employers tackle the problems of absence in the workplace.
By Rachel Williams
The group already offers a managed care service as part of its PMI offering but is extending this through its team of nurses.
For a fixed premium of between £15-£30 per employee per year, depending on the level of service required, employers are able to buy in medical advice from Cigna's team of nurses, whether or not they have PMI.
As a result, when an employee is off sick they are contacted by a nurse who can provide support and advice to help them get back to work.
Sharon Lyons, director of strategic planning and marketing at Cigna Healthcare, said: "Prior to the introduction of this service we were only helping the patient during the claims process. But for the employer, absence can be an issue before the claim is made and once the treatment is finished, when the employee may be convalescing."
Services offered cover a wide spectrum, depending on the condition suffered, said Lyons.
"It could simply be a case of encouraging an employee to visit their GP again, referring someone to physiotherapy, or it can involve putting them in touch with relevant support groups."
Practical advice is also available to employers to ensure that staff are offered maximum support on their return to work. This, for example, could include the use of flexible working patterns and assistance in rehabilitation.
The service also includes a cost benefit analysis to help employers judge the best course of treatment for their staff.
"If an employee needs an operation but is on a three-month waiting list, we can estimate the cost of the procedure in a private hospital against the cost of that individual's absence while they wait and help the employer work out whether it makes sense to fund private treatment.
"Managing absence is a significant issue for both staff and employers in the UK, particularly when you consider that as many as a million people a week take at least one day a week off sick. The effects are not just about lost management time and lower productivity, they also have a human dimension.
"Increasing someone else's work load to cover a colleague's work can lead to poor staff morale and ultimately stress, and this is something employer's really need to avoid, because stress, anxiety and depression account for almost a third of all sickness absence."
The Confederation of British Industry estimates that workplace absence costs over £10bn each year.
