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Your Key to the 1199SEIU Benefi t Funds
Cost Savings Initiatives
As you know, the 1199SEIU Benefi t Funds provide our health care workers – your patients -
with some of the most comprehensive coverage in the nation. As health care costs escalate, we
are constantly looking for ways to protect the benefi ts that they currently enjoy. We've recently
instituted several cost-saving measures, and hope that you will help your patients to avoid
unnecessary out-of-pocket expenses by following these simple steps:
PARTICIPATING LABS
In order to receive full coverage, 1199SEIU
Effective April 1, our pharmacy benefi ts are
Benefi t Fund participants must have any lab
provided through Medco. You should already
work performed by LabCorp. Members
have received a copy of our new Preferred
may also use their own Member Choice
Drug List (PDL). Although this list has expanded
Hospital-based lab, Centralized Labs, or
from our current PDL, some widely-prescribed
Bendiner & Schlesinger. Certain tests, such
medications such as Pravachol are no longer
as urinalysis and glucose tests, can still be
preferred. To help our members avoid out-of-
performed at your offi ce. (For a complete
pocket costs, please prescribe generic and
The Provider Relations Staff:
list check the provider section of our website
preferred medications. This list is also available
at www.1199nbf.org.) If you are using a
on our website.
computerized laboratory routing system, please
At Your Service
update your alternate laboratory routing to refer We have also introduced a new maintenance
to only LabCorp for 1199SEIU Benefi t Fund
drug access program,
The 90-Day Rx
members. LabCorp can also assist you with
Solution. If you are prescribing a maintenance
Your Provider Relations Representative is your liaison to
setting up an account. For more information,
medication for the fi rst time, please write a
the Fund. All of our physicians, hospitals, dentists, and
contact LabCorp at (800) 788-9091.
prescription for 30 days plus one refi ll, which
other providers are assigned a regional representative
will be fi lled at a retail pharmacy. Then, give
to keep you up-to-date on our policies and procedures
the patient a second prescription for a 90-day
and let you know of any benefi t changes. Your
Our members are now being asked to use
supply (with 3 refi lls), if medically appropriate,
participating MedFocus radiology facilities
to fi ll through mail order or at a local Rite Aid.
representative will work with you to navigate our internal
or their own Member Choice Hospital-based
departments, helping to resolve issues such as contracting
radiology departments. For x-rays, please
If your patient has previously used the
or outstanding claims quickly and effi ciently. For your
provide our members with a prescription,
maintenance medication, please write a new
representative's name, or if you would like to schedule a
which they can take to a participating facility.
prescription for a 90-day supply (with 3 refi lls).
For help locating a convenient facility, or for
Members will fi ll these 90-day supplies at Rite
visit to your offi ce, call our Provider Relations Department
scheduling appointments for MRIs or PET scans, Aid pharmacies in New York or New Jersey or
at (646) 473-7222.
We're here to help you!
call MedFocus directly at (888) 910-1199.
by mail order.
For routine claim or benefi t questions, please
Our representatives are happy to answer any
continue to call our general service representatives at
of your questions about these changes at
(646) 473-9200.
(646) 473-9200 or visit the provider section of
our website at www.1199nbf.org.
Letter From the Executive Director
MEMBER ❑
✓
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE…
New Interactive Voice Response system
I'm pleased to introduce the fi rst issue of
for eligibility, effective April 1
Provider Connections, our 1199SEIU Benefi t
Your patients and our members – New York's
Funds' provider newsletter. We hope that
We've put the information you need right at your fi ngertips.
this quarterly publication will be a helpful
healthcare workers – devote themselves each
Beginning April 1, you can quickly verify your 1199SEIU patient's
resource for you and your staff.
day to the care of others. Yet, they often
neglect their own health. Our 1199SEIU
hospital, medical, or vision eligibility twenty-four hours a day, by
Our goal this year is to make sure you have
providers are critical in helping to keep our
calling our new Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system at
easy and quick access to the information
members healthy, and we encourage our
you need. To ensure that all your questions
members to help themselves by developing
are answered, we've added more staff to our
ongoing relationships with their physicians.
To access the system, you will need:
Provider Relations team. Your designated representative can help you resolve any
• Your tax ID number
We created the Member Choice program
outstanding issues or concerns. To help
• Member's social security number and
to encourage our members to build these
you determine eligibility, we launched an
relationships. Member Choice participants
• Patient's date of birth
Interactive Voice Response System that
select a hospital network and a primary
will save you valuable time by allowing you
care physician (PCP) associated with it. By
The IVR system eliminates wait time, and allows you to verify
to check member eligibility automatically
visiting their PCP regularly, your patients are
eligibility for an unlimited number of patients in the same call.
through a toll-free phone number.
assured of always having a provider familiar
For other questions, please call our service representatives at
with their medical history. Member Choice
(646) 473-9200 or your Provider Relations representative.
We're also asking for your continued help
hospitals are often the same facilities that our
in making sure that our members avoid
members work in, making it even simpler for
unnecessary out-of-pocket costs. In the past
them to access their health benefi ts.
months, we've initiated new cost-saving procedures. By using participating labs,
KEEP YOUR INFORMATION CURRENT
Although Member Choice is not an HMO,
radiology facilities, and our preferred drug
we do require patients to stay in their
Re-Credentialing Begins This Month
program, your patients should never have
network to avoid being balance billed for
any out-of-pocket expenses, unless they
specialist visits and other services. Each
To ensure that we have your most current information, the Fund has
are subject to a small co-pay. We ask you to help us by taking the few simple steps
Member Choice network has a wide
begun re-credentialing many of our participating providers. Keep
outlined in this publication.
range of medical services, so please help
an eye out for a package of materials, including an application,
your Member Choice patients avoid
which you must fi ll out and return to the Fund.
We look forward to working with you,
out-of-pocket costs by referring them
and we hope you enjoy
Provider
within network.
Your package will include a form that lists the information we
Connections. Please contact our
currently have on fi le for you in our system. Please review it, make
Communications Department, at
If you are not a Member Choice
any necessary corrections, and send us your updates before the
[email protected], to let us know
physician and want to see if you are
deadline designated on the cover letter. This process helps ensure
what you'd like to see in future issues!
eligible, please contact your Provider
that we have accurate data for our directories, and can process your claims completely and accurately. By
Relations representative. Physicians not
helping us keep our records current, you are also ensuring that you receive important information about Fund
associated with Member Choice networks
updates and policy changes.
can still become participating providers
through our Panel Program. For more
Please take a moment to review your information in the Provider Directory posted on our website at
information, call our Provider Relations
www.1199nbf.org to make sure it's current. If there are any changes, please make sure you contact the
Department at (646) 473-7222.
Executive Director
Provider Relations Department at (646) 473-7216 to let us know.
Source: http://1199funds.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/143.pdf
Three Bond Technical News Issued July 1, 2002 Sealants for Lithium-Ion Batteries As portable electronic devices become increasingly compact, their parts must be made ever smaller. In addition, there is increasing demand for technological innovations in batteries for such devices; for example, a small, long lasting battery is a requisite for cellular phones. To increase the performance of batteries under such circumstances, improvement in the sealants used in their assembly is expected.
British Journal of Clinical CorrespondenceDr Geoff Isbister, Department of ClinicalToxicology, Calvary Mater Newcastle and arrhythmias in Hospital, Edith St, Waratah, NSW 2298,Australia.Tel: + 612 4921 1211 venlafaxine overdose Fax: + 612 4921 1870E-mail: geoffrey Geoffrey K. Isbister arrhythmia, cardiac toxicity, overdose, QRSwidth, QT prolongation, venlafaxine