2020 Innovation Awards: Paradigm Contagion Care for COVID-19

Business Insurance
Author: Caroline McDonald

Escalating requests from clients for assistance in treating essential workers with COVID-19  prompted Paradigm Corp. to quickly develop additional resources to help companies respond to the pandemic.

Realizing the need for clinical expertise and management to navigate the unknowns of COVID-19, Paradigm Contagion Care for COVID-19 was formed.

“Because of our experience in managing catastrophic injuries, such as brain and spinal cord injuries, and understanding that the most critically ill COVID patients would require similar interventions and rehabilitation to cat cases, we were quickly able to launch this solution,” said Kathleen Galia, chief operating officer for the managed care company’s catastrophic care management division, based in Walnut Creek, California.

Ms. Galia spearheaded the project, which won a Business Insurance 2020 Innovation Award, with Dr. Michael Choo, Paradigm’s chief medical officer.

Paradigm already had a systematic care management platform in place, as well as 30 years of data associated with critical care, respiratory, cardiac, infectious diseases and rehabilitation, she said.

“We have medical directors on staff who are certified experts in these areas and are on the forefront of COVID-19 treatment and management,” Ms. Galia said. “COVID touches so many areas of medical care that we knew if we brought these specialists together as a team, we could help injured workers and their families obtain the best recovery possible.”

The program, which was launched in March, is designed to help workers, regardless of the severity of the injury, whether COVID-19 is a primary diagnosis or a complicating factor. A customized care plan coordinates the providers needed to facilitate recovery.

“We are able to provide a detailed assessment, clinical plan and ongoing oversight of the most severe cases, which are typically in the intensive care unit and require ventilator support,” Ms. Galia said, noting that some patients may require additional rehabilitation and specialized care.

Social workers and behavioral health experts are also “layered in to assist not only the injured worker but their family as well, because these are unprecedented situations, where in most cases, due to precautionary measures, the family isn’t permitted into the hospital to visit,” she said.

Depending upon the severity of the condition, other services include nurse triage, specialized nurse case management and worksite management services. “We are able to leverage technology and telemedicine to assure continuity of care,” Ms. Galia said.

The program has been helpful to risk managers “because we are able to quantify the risk for them,” she said.

Full article at businessinsurance.com: 2020 Innovation Awards: Paradigm Contagion Care for COVID-19