Today I have the honor to join Preferred Medical as their Chief Clinical Officer.
I am extremely excited to be part of the talented, dedicated team at Preferred and make my own contribution to providing high-touch care to their (I mean “our”) customers and injured workers. While I could have stayed in retirement, I recognized a continued need to be intellectually stimulated. I also recognized that my tank was not empty as there is much more I can do to help the system and its stakeholders aspire to and deliver high quality clinical and financial outcomes.
Since 1997, Preferred has built a team with the mentality of doing what’s right. This focus and dedication is what drew me to join them.
I have been in the healthcare industry for over 45 years that includes retail pharmacy, mail order pharmacy, back office support, operations, and clinical programs. While leading the pharmacy program at Healthcare Solutions, we built a formidable end-to-end workers’ compensation PBM program that successfully addressed many customer needs. I was part of the charge to address opioid over-prescribing and have since been part of the journey to determine what’s next. I have the benefit of knowing what has been tried in the past, what works (and doesn’t), with plenty of ideas for the future. I fully intend to leverage my “been there, done that” experience as Preferred continues to refine our clinical services for both PBM and Ancillary services.
But what excites me even more is using my “voice of the customer” perspective to further improve our customer’s experience. My top priority is to be an advocate for our clients and provide innovative ways of getting the injured worker back to work quickly. That means I will be very active in not just back-office operations but front-office customer engagement, a great mix!
I know the work comp system is not perfect and that is why I am looking forward to joining Preferred. I want to do what we can to fix the broken parts, innovate to make things better, and bring more value to the customer and better outcomes to injured workers. I am excited for the opportunity to make a real difference in the marketplace and the lives of Preferred’s customers. But, most importantly, to the health and well-being of the injured worker. See you soon!
Written by Jim Andrews, Chief Clinical Officer