Document RjqKEno9opOdo9jz9ZZBgJmj7

Dmt* TO* METEOPOLITAH GJROUP-USURED FIRMS EX} MXTRDPOLITiM 7ISITHG iURSX SERVICE fit 1943. th* Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Introduced to It* Group-insured firms the Five-Point Plan -- a mew procedure for using the Metropolitan Visiting Suras Service, whioh la available .to all the Group-insured employees who llv* where it is mflntained. Under tills plan, the smploysr reminds the employe* of the Service* particularly at the tine of illness, bat tne deelslon to use It rests with the ploy**, lew that the plan has basn in operation five years, we should like to share with you what we believe are its real advantages to yon* your employees, the nurses who give th*-Service, and te us, your insurance carrier who sponsors it. As we see it* the advantages are as followed -The employs* who meeds and wants professional home nursing oar* or instruction is having it more promptly and whan he really needs It. The evidence ef this is the foot that in 194ft we averaged 35 visit* per ease, 1* eoateamt with 1.8 in 1942. 2. The visiting nurse gees into the employee** home only with his knowledge and consent. . !Fherefpre, she is welcome and th* employe* and his family are nor* favorably disposed to accept her services end fellow her suggestions* 3. Th* alleys* appreeintes the fleet that his employer asks* this .Service available and gives him the privilege ef deciding when it is n*ed*d 1. The lursing Service is kept on a professional level. With your continued cooperation w* hope to make this Service inoreasisgly valuable to you and your employ***.. If you should like to disease ear Group Rnrsing Program with our local Mursing Representative* pleas* sail her or writ* me and I will ask her to call you for an appointment* lours very truly. fl. B* Armstrong, M. B* Second Tiee-Presldest 2217 ) i v --i In. 1943, Th J'lv.-Point Plan (oar recommended procedure for the use of Metropolitan Visiting Burse Service by our Grcnp-innured firms) reached its fifth birthday, tinder this plan, management assumes responsibility for seeing that the enployee knows about the Sursing Servian from the tine he becomes insured, end that he is reainded of it at the time of illness, but he leaves it to the enployee to deoide if and when it is needed. Because the philosophy of this plan differs frost previous concepts, it is tlnely to evaluate its effectiveness in terns of volune of Service,. cost, and reflection in the attitude of the employer, the enployee, the nurses who provide the Service, and the Group Division Representatives who sell and interpret it. It is also tlnely to review what has been dons to establish end maintain this plan. mm? of. must In 1943# the year the Five-Point Plan was introduced, there were 124,059 hone nursing visits nade to 70,232 Group certificate holders. In 1943 there were 42,870 visits nade. to 17,906 Group certificate holders. This deorease of 73 in eases end 49? in visits during a five-year period night seen to indicate that the plan is not as effective as tbs previous one. The fact is, however, that aside from ea over-ell decrease experienced in the Coapany's total Visiting Marie Pregraa (290 in oases and 234 in visits) due to the excellent health record-for the country as a whole and other factors, the additional decrease hasoccurred in Group Xursing experience largely through the elimination of routine referral of seccud-day ill absentees and the substitution of referral of only those who say they -need and want the Service, tvidenoe.fpr this is found in the important fact that in 1943 the Group lursing Service averaged 3.5 visits per qase, in ' contrast to 1.8 in 1943* This means. we are reaching acre promptly consequently, giving acre bare to those who need snd want it. It means, too, that, we are * reduolng te a mlaimun the routine'' referral'of aecond-dayill absentees---a jfinactice which we all agree should not be the responsibility of an insurance carrier. ' In evaluating'vclaae it is important to reaeaber that we'still have Group-insured fireM which are hot using the Service* It is our belief that this is due to the lade of inforaatio* sad stimulation which should cone from the local Muraing Representative, tha'Grcup Division Representatives, Rone Office correspondence, end promotional materials. Our .Territorial Sursing Supervisors during their routine visits sire urging interpretive visits hy our local lursing Representatives. Tbs Group Service Supervisors are Increasingly interpreting the Service and are giving ns date an fora G. 643 about $he firns which used acre nursing Information* The Group Surfing Unit is writing an increasing number of letters of Interpretation and stimulation to these firas and, as indicated, is asking the local Sursing Reprssentatlvo to call on the oaployer. ssst The reduction in nursing volume mstaraUy neans a reduction in cost to the Group ,v division end, consequently, to that part of Service costs to Group policyholders* I -2- It also means that the Nursing Servian outlays go for professional hone nursing oare# treatment and instraction, legitimate activities of an insurance carrier. , rnnsm A. Bmnlovar Each, year it is increasingly easy tc "sell* The Five-Point Plan to management, not only because Nursing Personnel believes in it and is enthusiastic about it, but also because management, too, knows it makes for better employee relations to see that the employee knows about the Service and is reminded of it at the time of illness but then is left to decide for himself if and when ha wants it. The Five-Point Plan is the "perfect" answer tc the employer whc says he hesitates to use our Service because the employee may question his motive for sending the nurse. It also is an answer to the competitor who belittles our Service. e b. fastest The Qroqp-i&sured employee likes the Service under The Five-Point Plan because he himself decides if it is needed, because the nurse than ocaes uore promptly and he knows she is oomlng. 0. ,aj}jttfcPKJhK`?* One of the most difficult problems in the Group Nursing Program has bean to overcome the resistance of our nurses to employer-referred oases. This is understandable when we realise that all other oasea which the nurse carries have been referred by the familyf the physician, or the insurance agent} and, of course, she is expected and welcomed. Consequently, the nurses are particularly appreciative af all that our Company has done to emphasise employee consent for all referrals. Because it is sold on its worth, the Visiting Nurse Service of ' lew Xprk is using our Five-Point. Plan as a pattern for its individual contracts with firms fer heme nursing ears of their employees. (For some Metropolitan policyholders, it gives auoh Servloe to ineligible or Uninsured employees.} ` 0. Group Division Representatives Mush of the credit fer the suooass of The Five-Point Plan should go to the Bsgional Managers, Group Supervisors, and Service Supervisors. It is they who first present the Group Nursing Program in the prcspeot stage and at Intervale * thereafter, - Perhaps the biggest step which has been taken in the accurate interpretation of our program by the Group Division Representatives has been the use of the leaflet OUR GROUP NURSING PROGRAM in the Prospect Book and during Servloe calls. PRQCgqOBg fOR INTRODUCING AND MAINTAINING THB FIVE-POINT PLAN After the Initial introduction* of The Five-Point Plan to cur Group Division Representative*, our Local Nufaes,. and ,,cur, Group-insured firms, the use of the implemented in~two. wfys. First by starting all newly-insured Groups i. f i- ' V* ' -* March 10, 1$49 * f *i - 2219 k. -3- on The Five-Point Plan, aacond by working closely and individually with those firms - which were using the Serrloe extravagantly and ncn-profaslionally. This latter activity took patience, persistence, understanding and the full cooperation of the Group Mviaicn Representative, the local Horsing Representative, and the Rone Office Representative. Outstanding examples of firms which changed their procedure from routine illness absentee visiting to The Five-Point Plan are R. H. Maoy and Company and Sesrr,; Roebuck, and Company, both of which at ona time used our Bursing Service to verify eligibility for their own disability plans which started payment after the third day of illness. Both of these firms agreed that such verification should not be our responsibility and have been meat cooperative* Another big help la bringing about better utilisation of tha Service by national fibms has bean the establishment with executive management of an over-all plan for using the Service in their various locations. Under this plan, management sends a statement of -Interpretation and procedure to eaoh of its local managers sad supplies the Group Bursing Unit with a sufficient quantity of these statements far general distribution to the local Bursing Representative at the time she is ' asked to cell on local management. The local Burse and the local management then adapt tha firmrs over-all plan to the local situation. 1 The first plan of this sort was worked out with Western Union Telegraph Company in August 1944* This was followed by similar plans with OssamlcidaAafeBai^agfcny, J.J. Sewberry Company, Singer Manufacturing Company, Tha Greyhound Corporation, American Tobacco Company, Liggett and Myers Company, eto. During 1948 similar plans were established with Standard Oil Company (Indiana), Consolidated Cigar - Company, Sun Chemical Company, Wyandotte Chamiaal Company, Continental Baking Company, and Bational Lead Company. Plans are in'the mating with Stouffer Corporation, Home Insurance Company, and Baton Manufacturing Company, r 4--V. v- ' ' '' . This year we have gone a step further in management interpretation. Management is urged to enclose a statement over its signature with the Group Bursing leaflet when it is distributed.' This is good beoause it givaa management another opportunity to remind the employees of a Serrloe which it is providing totally or. In ooopexmtlon with the employees. Along the same line. Consolidated Edison Company sent a statement to all the physicians on its Home Visiting Panel, reminding them to utulise Visiting Burse Service as indicated* . Many firms also have distributed statements about the Service to their department heads asking . for their cooperation In reminding the employees of the 8errice.^ - - - Ws realise that we still have many firms who are not using this jSsrvicst; ends it* is with these that we need to work during the next, few years. We continue to be hsadioapped by shortages in Bursing Staffs, but we expeot to work with . those eenters where Staffs are such that visits oaa.be made and Increasing caseloads osnjbe handled* ' . . . ^^..haveL^beens > 1* ..lore.prompt end consequently more professional nursing care __ Ifcreh 10, 1949 2220 .y -4- 2. The redaction to a minimum of routine referral of ill absentees. 3. The gross reduction in Horsing costa which, in turn, should be reflected in reduced insurance costs. 4. The nurses' appreciation of a Service provided on a professional level. 5* The eaployee's appreciation of his privilege to decide'when he needs and wants the Service. 6. The recognition by management of this Service as another opportunity to strengthen Industrial relations. 7* The opportunity for the Group Division Representatives to present a plan which can stand close scrutiny froa both manage ment and labor. March 10, 1949 - 2221