Complementary Health Care
The "Benefits" of Providing Specialty Health Care
An increasing number of Americans are adopting specialty health care services as part of their health improvement or wellness plans. And as a health plan or employer, you want to keep your members or employees in top shape. But are specialty health care benefits right for your organization?
It may first help to examine just what specialty health care is all about.
What is Specialty Health Care?
The goal of specialty health care is to help people learn how to use self-care techniques and specialty health care services to manage pain and improve overall wellness. Examples of specialty health care services include chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage therapy, among others.
Employers who offer specialty health care benefits—such as chiropractic, for example—can realize fewer hospitalizations for back pain, a reduction in the number of back surgeries, and lower overall health care treatment costs versus employers who do not offer this kind of coverage.*
In addition, specialty health care benefits give your employees a broader range of options to feel better, leading to increased productivity, improved morale, and less absenteeism. And that, in turn, will impact your bottom line.
Why Choose ASH
For 25 years, ASH has been providing specialty health care management services to health plans and employer groups throughout the country. In fact, ASH works with more than 2,200 employers to provide these kinds of benefits to their employees.
ASH’s subsidiaries have become some of the largest specialty health plans (American Specialty Health Plans of California, Inc.), insurers (American Specialty Health Insurance Company), and network administrators (American Specialty Health Group, Inc., formerly American Specialty Health Networks, Inc.) nationally for chiropractic and physical medicine, covering nearly 18 million Americans under its benefit administration programs alone.
ASH’s contracts with more than 28,000 practitioners nationwide for:
- Chiropractic
- Acupuncture
- Massage therapy
- Nutrition services
- Naturopathy
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
You can trust our practitioners, too. Our practitioners must pass a credentialing process that goes well beyond NCQA requirements. In addition, ASH has developed over 160 evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (publicly available on ASHCompanies.com) to guide clinical decisions.
And, ASH’s award-winning health improvement educational materials are mailed to members who are at risk of developing a chronic condition or have a high rate of recidivism.
Since its inception in 1987, ASH and its subsidiaries have achieved a variety of industry firsts, including:
- First to become a Knox-Keene licensed specialty health plan for chiropractic and acupuncture (ASH Plans of California, Inc.); and
- First specialty network for chiropractic and acupuncture to receive NCQA certifications for UM and Credentialing
Call one of our regional account executives at 800.848.3555 for more information on offering specialty health care benefits to your employees or members.
* Legorreta, A.P., Metz, R.D., Nelson, C.F., Ray, S., Chernicoff, H.O., & DiNubile, N.A. (2004). Comparative analysis of individuals with and without chiropractic coverage. Archives of Internal Medicine, 164(18), 1985-1992.