Among their many responsibilities, family office executives are increasingly called upon to address the healthcare management of the families they serve. The COVID-19 pandemic has only served to heighten awareness of the need to have comprehensive family health and wellness strategies in place. While many family office executives are conversant with a broad range of investment, legal and financial matters, healthcare management can be new or unfamiliar territory. As such, executives may be challenged to navigate the healthcare system on behalf of the family office principal, immediate family or extended family that they serve.

This paper is intended to provide a framework of best practices for a family office to evaluate and develop a proactive healthcare strategy for principals and families.

Click here to download/read the PDF 

As portfolio management moves to the background of a financial advisor’s value proposition, they face a crisis of differentiation. How do advisors continue to justify their fees? Some advisors to high-net-worth clients have found that helping their clients with their health issues is inextricably linked to securing their wealth.

Given that virtually every client will face a health crisis at some point, these wealth managers established connections to health specialists that clients can draw on.

To be sure, advisors are drawn by the desire to help their clients confront challenging health issues. It’s also true that advisors see an opportunity to set their practices apart when the value proposition of financial investment advice is under threat. For example, Schwab’s Intelligent Portfolios Premium basically revalues financial planning at, effectively, $30 per month plus $90 per quarter for unlimited access to a certified financial planner.

But there are things Schwab’s planners probably can’t do for clients, and that includes navigating a complex health care bureaucracy. The need does not come out of a vacuum. The U.S. is aging dramatically. People 85 or older are the fastest-growing segment of the population, according to the Census Bureau. Living to 100 is increasingly commonplace. Centenarians represent the second-largest-growing cohort of Americans. The challenge for 21st-century financial advisors will be to reckon with the trend and help clients make these added years as healthy and productive as possible.

There’s also evidence that wealthy Americans are so worried about their finances, it’s affecting their mental and physical health. A Bank of America survey of more than 1,000 people in the U.S. who have enough investable money to qualify as “mass affluent” found that financial concerns negatively affected the mental health of 59% of respondents, while 56% said their physical health had suffered. Younger people, in the millennial and Generation Z age brackets, reported a bigger impact on health from money worries than their Generation X and baby boomer counterparts.

Cultivate Creative Connections

Insofar as they are able, some advisors take the position they can be part of the solution when clients or their family members experience health emergencies. They establish connections with health professionals in their communities and beyond, partnering with concierge health services and finding other beneficial resources, so when a client faces an emergency, the advisor can offer more than just sympathy.

Often these advisors tweak the traditional client seminar program. In addition to trotting out experts on annuities or estates, advisors invite gerontologists, memory experts or aging-in-place specialists to educate their clients.

Catherine L. Guidera, a financial advisor and manager with UBS in New York City, made these health connections a focus of her practice. “All of my clients seek advice not only about investing their assets, but beyond that the situations are particular to each family,” she says. “For example, I have found that children are often forced to make financial and health care decisions for their parents that they are not qualified to make.”

Guidera says that UBS’ partnership with a concierge medical service is helpful when clients have problems managing the medical care of their parents. “I’m convinced that being able to assist clients on such a deep level just makes the relationship with the wealth manager that much stronger,” Guidera says.

Even issues with substance abuse can plague a client or the client’s family, and here too an advisor, prepared with the right connections in the health care industry, can help. One advisor at a national brokerage firm, who did not want to be identified, recalled a client whose son had an addiction. The advisor recognized that his client, with all good intentions, was in fact enabling the abuse.

The advisor watched in distress as the enabling behavior went on; when the client finally expressed frustration, the advisor, with permission, was able to quickly introduce a specialist in addiction and recovery who reframed the problem; the needed intervention was not with the son but with the client. The sooner the client ceased enabling his son’s behavior, the sooner the son could get real help.

Centers of Excellence

By making these kinds of introductions, advisors can streamline client access to health professionals and specialists. The confidence clients have in the advisor’s ability to take care of their finances translates to confidence the advisor can also effectively help in nonfinancial parts of their lives.

The periodic investment review is an ideal place to start the conversations required to identify the need for third-party services, says Jerry Garner, Senior Lifestyle Advisory Specialist with Signature Access for Morgan Stanley. This is the time to ask, “What’s changed?”

Most clients will readily share details about new jobs, marriages, births, deaths, shifting insurance needs, inheritances. This is when advisors need to slow down and listen. If they do, clients will also share details about illnesses, diagnoses, apprehensions about elder care and other health-related concerns.

Would It Be Helpful If?

It’s at this point that advisors can respond with five of the most powerful words he or she can offer: “Would it be helpful if …?” That phrase may be the most powerful catalyst for the conversations that identify solutions to problems and build relationships that stick.

For instance, Garner said, the client of a Morgan Stanley advisor whose husband was being treated for early onset dementia found out through these conversations that he was being treated by no less than five doctors, none of whom were talking to the other. The advisor asked if it would be helpful to have a health advocate who could coordinate the health care plan. The client agreed. The husband had an elder care assessment that revealed adverse interactions in the medications that the various doctors were prescribing, interactions that contributed to cognitive difficulties. When the prescriptions were adjusted, the husband regained much of the cognitive functioning thought to be lost.

Holistic Solutions

Some advisors are partnering with concierge health services, like PinnacleCare in Baltimore, that “prestage” health care providers in anticipation of clients’ medical needs, whether that be health crises, bad diagnoses, desire for second opinions, elder care or behavioral health typically centered on addiction treatment and recovery.

Advisors receive no fees or commissions from PinnacleCare for referring potential clients. Nor do clients pay advisors any fees for the referral. Both parties believe that it’s valuable to solidify relationships with their clients in need. Of course, PinnacleCare charges clients for health services rendered.

Concierge medical care, sometimes referred to as direct primary care (DPC) or private physician practice, is also a form of health care delivery growing markedly. One principle linking these practices is that by bypassing the complexity of insurance, health professionals can frequently see patients sooner, in an unhurried environment, and follow up on treatment plans personally.

“Issues of health are becoming paramount,” says Bob Seaberg, formerly Managing Director and Head of Wealth Advisory Solutions at Morgan Stanley and founder of Baltimore-based Intersect Consulting. “When events are important to the life of a client, the advisor should be part of the solution.” For wealth advisors, providing value and experiencing real growth may be found through focusing on the intersection of wealth and health.

If advisors limit themselves to just financial issues, they are limiting their opportunities. “I suggest that advisors get better at what I call the ‘relational arts,’” Seaberg says. “That means being able to tell clients that, insofar as we are able, there are things we can do when you or a family member faces a medical crisis.”

Where does it say that advisors are restricted only to managing their clients’ financial lives? If financial advisors want to remain relevant, they need to position themselves as a toolbox for the various challenges their clients face, whether that be changing transportation needs, managing lifestyle transitions or, in this case, finding a better tool for managing the quality and cost of health care.

PinnacleCare LLC announced Monday that its general control system for membership services and group benefits services was certified under the HiTrust common security framework.

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SYOSSET, N.Y., Jan. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — CEO Connection^®  announced a partnership agreement with PinnacleCare to provide CEO Connection mid-market member companies ($100 million to $3 billion in annual revenue) with preferred rates and access to PinnacleCare’s healthcare advisory services.

When CEO Connection member employees are faced with a serious health challenge, experts from CEO Connection’s Healthcare Management Program powered by PinnacleCare will help them confidently navigate the complexity of the healthcare system and obtain the world’s most advanced care. This is important, because knowing where to go for healthcare, how to get in fast, and understanding all treatment options can reduce costs and save lives.

“I wholeheartedly stand behind the recommendation to offer this service to CEO Connection member companies,” said Doug Robinson, Chair, CEO Connection Healthcare Committee. “Done right, the ROI will be significant on both the claims expense front, as well as the employee/dependent’s peace of mind front.”

Jim Mead, CEO of PinnacleCare, said: “PinnacleCare’s extensive experience providing concierge health advisory services to companies helps produce better outcomes driven by expert medical intelligence and provider access.That’s why this is valuable to CEO Connection and its members.”

To learn more, visit: https://www.ceoconnection.com/healthcare-management

About PinnacleCare
PinnacleCare is a private health advisory organization with a mission to ensure that all members realize their highest expectations for health and wellness. PinnacleCare’s personalized approach to health care is a unique combination of exceptional medical resources, an unmatched range of services, and outstanding care. This allows members efficient access to the finest health care experiences, expert guidance through the complex healthcare system by expert health advisors, and assurance to lead the healthiest lives possible, at home and abroad.
www.PinnacleCare.com 
Twitter: @PinnacleCare 
Blog: www.PinnacleCare.com/blog

About CEO Connection
CEO Connection is the only membership organization in the world exclusively for CEOs of mid-market companies (with between $100 million and $3 billion in annual revenue). Our mission is to help mid-market CEOs and their companies succeed. We accomplish this by connecting members with one another and with the people, information, opportunities, and resources they could not otherwise access. Collectively, we promote the interests, welfare, and perspectives of the mid-market. For more information, visit CEO Connection, and stay connected on Twitter @CEOConnection, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Media Contact:
Kimberly Wilcox (for CEO Connection)
208532@email4pr.com | 800-244-4719

George Cohen (for PinnacleCare)
GCC, Inc.
208532@email4pr.com | 617-435-7208

SOURCE CEO Connection

Related Links

https://www.ceoconnection.com

A Rare Conditions Care Value (RCCV) program providing access to “second opinions” for patients with rare diseases like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) was recently launched by two U.S. health management companies, Express Scripts and Pinnacle Care.

Second Opinion, as the service is called, offers precisely that— another opinion regarding diagnosis and disease treatment from a specialist in the field, so that patients can assess their disease, and recommendations on most effective treatment protocols and symptom management strategies. This could be especially important in rare diseases, where a particular physician’s knowledge and experience can be limited.

Express Scripts provides pharmacy benefit management services. PinnacleCare is a private health advisory firm that offers personalized guidance and expert case review. Members whose plan enrolls in the RCCV program will have free access to the Second Opinion service. It is available through the company’s SafeGuardRx suite of solutions, a press release states.

People with rare diseases, according to estimates, wait an average of up to 7.6 years and visit seven different doctors before receiving a confirmed diagnosis.

“The years spent going to different doctors, getting myriad medical tests, managing paperwork and experimenting with numerous treatments is an ordeal for patients and their health, as well as for those who love and care for them,” Glen Stettin, MD, senior vice president of clinical, research and new solutions at Express Scripts, said in the release.

Often, a second opinion from an expert can help resolve clinical questions and bring emotional reassurance to patients struggling with a rare condition and its symptoms.

The Second Opinion service through the RCCV program is expected to help reduce the emotional, physical, and financial burden on patients. It addresses rare diseases like IPF, hemophilia, alpha-1 deficiency, acromegaly, Gaucher’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and hereditary angioedema.

Among Express Script’s clients, the proportion of patients with one of the rare conditions covered in the RCCV program have grown from 29 percent in 2014, to 41 percent in 2017.

“Rare disease trends are growing on all fronts – more patients, new drugs and higher costs,” said Miles J. Varn, MD, chief medical officer of PinnacleCare. “In order to provide affordable access to these newer therapies, we need to make sure that the diagnosis is correct, and that the pharmaceutical treatment plan is based upon expert best practices.”

More than 7,000 different rare diseases have been identified so far, and the number of Americans with a rare condition today is nearly the same as that of Americans with diabetes.

Of note, the price of medications for rare diseases has increased 54 percent in the last four years, and patient out-of-pocket costs for rare conditions averaged an annual $1,790 in 2017.

The RCCV program, apart from the Second Opinion service, also offers patient support by specialized clinical pharmacists and nurses, including one-to-one counseling and in-home nursing services, the release states.

Sentient Jet, a Directional Aviation Company and the inventor of the Jet Card, and PinnacleCare, a private health advisory firm that guides clients through complex healthcare challenges and facilitates access to the country’s top doctors and hospitals, today announced plans to extend the companies’ partnership into its second year. The partnership, which launched in January 2017, provides Sentient Jet Cardholders with premier access to medical evacuation and expert healthcare advisory services whether at home or abroad.

“At Sentient Jet, we recognize that traveling can be stressful, especially for travellers with existing or potential health concerns,” said Andrew Collins, CEO and president of Sentient Jet. “We are thrilled to offer a thoughtful travel solution with PinnacleCare so that travelers can fly with comfort, ease, and peace of mind.”

As Sentient Jet’s first health and wellness partner, PinnacleCare was introduced to Cardholders in January 2017 through the company’s Exclusive Benefits Guide, which offers perks from the world’s finest hotels and resorts, top destinations, luxury and lifestyle brands, and more. A core component of the guide, the PinnacleCare partnership provides Sentient Jet clients with 25% off the setup fee on all Comprehensive PinnacleCare Memberships, which is equivalent to a savings of between $900 and $1,500. Offering concierge-level management of all aspects of medical and health-related needs, each level of membership offers expert guidance in navigating the healthcare system and coordination of each step along the way, wherever Cardholders are based in the world. Services include objective referrals to top doctors, facilities, and hospitals and expedited access to the nation’s Centers of Excellence. In addition, the partnership also provides Sentient Jet Cardholders access to the advisory’s Global Connect Membership, a risk- management policy offering medical evacuation coverage, international hospital insurance and 24/7 access to PinnacleCare membership benefits anywhere in the world.

PinnacleCare supports clients when they need it the most by guiding members to unbiased and personalized healthcare services that facilitate timely access to the most appropriate medical resources and treatments. For those facing a complex medical diagnosis or struggling with chronic illness, PinnacleCare helps to alleviate the stress of the situation through professional personalized guidance and health management solutions.

“We want to make it easier for Sentient Jet Cardholders who are facing serious medical issues,” said James Mead, CEO of PinnacleCare. “Our message to them is, ‘We are here to help you and your family return to good health so you can continue traveling and exploring the world without medical needs limiting your travel and lifestyle.’ Our partnership makes this goal a reality.”

As one of the country’s leading private aviation companies, Sentient Jet provides clients with private flying opportunities for all their air travel needs. Sentient Jet offers its 25-Hour Jet Card in four jet-size options, allowing clients to purchase flight time on light, mid, super-mid, and heavy aircraft as well as in two age classes (Preferred and Select), starting at just $124,825. The company recently announced the SJ25+ Jet Card, which starts at $224,275 and offers cardholders guaranteed access to the most popular and luxurious Super-Mid Size Jets, all of which are Wi-Fi enabled. Sentient Jet cardholders receive a rare combination of industry leading service at a tremendous value, complete with a one-year lock on all-inclusive hourly rates, with the added bonus of 15% discounts on hourly pricing for qualifying round-trip travel. Through Sentient Jet’s recently launched mobile app, Sentient Jet cardholders can now also book private jet travel on-demand, as well as receive flight details, immediate assistance through a 24/7 live chat feature, and localized recommendations for exclusive benefits.

For about the price of a cup of coffee for each employee per month, Pfizer provides its 30,000 U.S. staff members with a health advisory service that helps them to navigate their health care benefits and use them in a more efficient, cost effective way.

Because the pharmaceutical company’s highly educated workforce is aging, employees are experiencing more and more acute complex conditions including different kinds of cancers and other more atypical diseases.

The company looked for and found a vendor that could help its employees make connections with the right health providers and ensure the proper personal medical information is on hand to get care quickly.

“Our challenge was how to provide our employees and their family members with access to the right diagnosis and treatment,” says Pfizer’s V.P. of Global Benefits Steven First. “We truly believe that if you get them fast, appropriate care at the beginning, the overall outcome will be better, ultimately leading to lower cost.”

He also thinks that better supporting the health needs of the Pfizer population will lead to fewer sick days for ill or disabled employees and more productive family members who spend less company time worrying about and coordinating care.

First was part of a team that selected PinnacleCare Connection to deliver this benefit to Pfizer associates and their families. “We spoke to a number of different vendors but ultimately what distinguished PinnacleCare Connection for us was their combination of clinical focus and the more concierge support for individuals,” First says. “We felt Pinnacle Care provided the most ‘high- touch’ service.”

Depending on the size and demographics of the workforce, PinnacleCare Connection costs from $2 to $4 a month for each employee. Pfizer believes it is money well spent. However, First says, “Companies considering adding a similar service to their healthcare programs need to buy into the assumption that if the underlying condition is addressed at an earlier stage than it might otherwise be, the cost of the program will be more than paid for by improved outcomes.”

Anyone who has been diagnosed with a complex medical condition needs to understand the disease, what it means, the treatment options and the potential risk vs. benefits of proposed treatments. “We provide anyone who comes to us for help with three things: intelligence, facilitation and access,” says Dr. Miles Varn, chief medical officer at PinnacleCare Connection. “If you just try to Google your problem, you will likely get information overload plus inaccurate or incorrect information.”

Not to mention getting scared out of your wits.

Patients also need to figure out who has the specialization and experience to treat their problem. PinnacleCare Connection helps employees figure out whether they need a second opinion and who they need to see. Their team also assists patients to gather the necessary information to set up their appointments.

“They may need images and pathology slides. Every institution is different. That whole process, particularly in the face of confronting a serious problem can be overwhelming for any consumer,” Varn explains. “And because we have relationships with multiple physicians and institutions around the country, we can generally set up more timely appointments. We don’t go through the front door. We go through a side door.”

The team that identifies specialists always considers the parameters of the company’s health plan and the patient’s preferences to stay in network, with the vast majority preferring to stay regional or even local depending on the situation. “Although the corporate health plan may not cover travel expenses, some employees will elect to go out of network or further away and we can help them with that as well,” Varn continues.

The point of entry for employees who want to take advantage of the PinnacleCare Connection program is a dedicated telephone number for each client company that employees can call. An intake team confirms eligibility and basic information and then hands the employee off to a client advisor. All calls are answered in real time or at least the same day. Then the client advisor talks the employee through the process, the information required to assist them plus their needs and expectations. Varn says. “They do a fantastic job of reassuring employees that we are taking this incredible burden off their shoulders.”

Boosting participation

The Pfizer healthcare advisory program was officially rolled out in January 2017. The company wanted to ensure PinnacleCare Connection was integrated with all of their other healthcare vendors. “I saw the new program as being part of the Pfizer benefits ecosystem, so we really spent a lot of time up front having group conversations with our different vendors so that the referral process and the roll out captured as many different inputs and outputs as possible,” says First.

Pfizer heavily marketed the program to employees when it was initially launched, sending out home mailers that looked like a cell phone to remind people of the phone number and the website. On an ongoing basis, they ensure that benefits brochures, annual enrolment materials and their wellness website include a callout box reminding employees the service is available. “In addition, we worked with our insurance carriers and clinical programs so referrals are consistently made,” says First.

There is no cap on employee usage of PinnacleCare Connection, but Varn says, “It’s meant to be an episodic service. We work with people until their questions are resolved, they are handed off to the right people or places and they are comfortable.”

Pfizer’s goals in implementing the program were to encourage as much participation as possible and ensure that PinnacleCare Connection makes quality referrals to other clinical programs. “Right now around 2-3% of our U.S. population have used PinnacleCare Connection and from what I can tell looking at the conditions our employees have been diagnosed with, the right people are using it,” First says.

Based the recorded analysis of client data, PinnacleCare reports that in 28% of cases where their service is used, there is a change in diagnosis, change in treatment or the patient is able to avoid surgery. On average employers realize significant cost savings in 50% of these cases.

Ohio-based employee assistance program (EAP) provider IMPACT Solutions is both a PinnacleConnect client and partner. While the company typically has only 25-30 full-time employees, they contract with over 7,000 psychologists, counsellors and trainers nation-wide to provide face-to-face and onsite services. PinnacleCare Connection is available only to the small core employee group.

IMPACT Solutions is also a partner in a combined hybrid program that links their EAP and work/life program into the PinnacleCare Connection program. Dr. Joel Gecht, president and CEO of IMPACT says, “We recognized that many of our EAP calls were based on some sort of a health care issue linked with depression or a financial issue but we were frustrated that we could not provide our clients with direct access to healthcare advocacy on the physical health side.”

About six years ago, IMPACT Solutions began developing a personalized medical guidance service as part of their EAP offering, but soon realized that their program did not have the depth and scalability required by their broader book of business. “As a result, two years ago, we did a national search for a prospective partner and PinnacleCare Connection came on top. We were impressed by their flexibility, ease of use and how they integrate so many components for the program user.”

After 10 months of offering PinnacleCare Connection in addition to more traditional EAP services to a segment of their clients, Gecht is pleased with the results. “Our projection is that in the next couple of years we will see this as a natural progression, comparable to when EAPs started to integrate online, legal and financial services.”

But Gecht’s experience when one of his own senior employees, Director of Client Services Luci Styles Payne, received advice from PinnacleCare Connection is really what sold him on the value of the service for both his own employees and those of his EAP clients. At virtually the same time, Payne’s mother was diagnosed with cancer and heart problems and her father had a stroke.

“I just didn’t know where to go or what to do,” Payne says. “PinnacleCare Connection really helped me through that whole thing right from the beginning, looking at records, confirming when we were on the right track and helping us to evaluate whether or not we needed a second opinion.”

A big part of the service was researching rehab options for her father and figuring out which facilities had openings and whether they took Medicare. “Of course I had to go and do the final walk-throughs and check things out, but they narrowed it down to the top three,” she says.

Payne was particularly impressed that barely an hour after she called PinnacleCare Connection in the late afternoon, the liaison she was working with had one of their specialists on the phone talking to her. “I have a lot of responsibility at work and this allowed me to focus, knowing they were doing the research that they are so good at,” she says.

Gecht agrees. “PinnacleCare Connection services alleviated Luci’s frustration and improved her parents’ prognosis. She was able to continue working effectively because her anxiety was considerably reduced.”

First says the feedback from Pfizer employees using the service has also been positive. “There are cases where employees have been trying to nail down the correct diagnosis for years and finally they made the necessary connections because PinnacleCare Connection referred them to an expert in the field.”