The California Chiropractic Association (CCA) recently retained Mr. John Drobny to assist in improving relations with self-insured corporations, their third-party administrators, and their insurance carriers. Mr. Drobny will also focus on the problems the chiropractic profession has had with the ERISA insurance industry.
The CCA's Executive Committee and Insurance and Industrial Relations Committee concluded that inside expertise was needed to make progress in this critical area. After a nationwide search, Mr. Drobny was retained. "CCA is confident that John's background and energy will be a valuable asset to our organization," commented John David Hemauer, D.C., chairman of the Insurance and Industrial Relations Committee.
Mr. Drobny's background includes three years as deputy director of the Department of Consumer Affairs and three years as chief executive officer of the California Association of Health Facilities. He has consulted extensively in marketing and management for Health Medical Organizations (HMOs) and Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), and helped to set up a number of Individual Practice Associations (IPAs). In addition, he has been a staff consultant to the state legislature.
Mr. Drobny's assignment with CCA started March 1. "To begin, we will be working to create a plan to meet the association's objectives in the ERISA area, then test the plan on a number of companies; and finally, after any fine-tuning, we will carry out the plan throughout California," stated Mr. Drobny.
Mr. Drobny believes that the insurance industry should be interested in the cost-effectiveness message that CCA has to offer. He emphasizes that insurance and corporate executives are "bottom-line minded."
"Cost containment is a major concern right now," states Mr. Drobny. "Our opportunity and challenge will be to key into that cost concern and show how chiropractic health care can help in solving their problems."
CCA's focused advertising campaign has a $70,000 print media budget to supplement efforts to reach the self-insured audience. Repeat ads emphasizing recent studies on chiropractic effectiveness will appear in the California editions of magazines such as Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report.
CCA president Dr. Willard Smith notes that other associations have been watching the progress of CCA's efforts in insurance relations and legislative areas. "We plan to succeed in making inroads into the insurance sector," affirmed Dr. Smith. "If other organizations can benefit from our results and our experience, we will be pleased. California has the largest chiropractic population in the United States and we take our leadership role for the entire profession very seriously," concluded Dr. Smith.
