In 2003, Dr. Richard Guscott, one of Canada's leading psychiatrists, had been conducting independent medical evaluations (IMEs) on behalf of major insurers and disability management providers. These reports were used to adjudicate disability claims. Most of the parties involved benefited – including the insurer able to effectively adjudicate the claim and psychiatrists who were paid well for their services. But two key players did not benefit – family physicians and the patients themselves.

Family physicians were given a detailed report replete with data on individual mental health history, but with very little practical help to guide them as they treated the patient. With full schedules and less time than ever to treat challenging and labour-intensive cases, they were at a distinct disadvantage. As a result, in many cases, treatment for patients was ineffective, a fact Dr. Guscott realized when many were back to see him again a year or so later for another evaluation – this time when advanced into long-term disability and with very little hope of one day returning to their job.

I remember the day Dr. Guscott asked me to help him. He had just seen a patient who was on his second IME, had been off work for four years and whose treatment had remain unchanged and ineffective for all of that time. A clearly frustrated Dr. Guscott explained that with proper treatment, this individual could have recovered long ago - the employee's illness had been prolonged because of a system that was flawed. He had received payment for the report but found the experience empty. While IMEs achieved their purpose for adjudication, there was a clearly a gap in the system. Another therapeutically-focused option was needed. “There has to be another way” was the way he put it. The result was Medaca.

With a team of senior advisors from the insurance, health care and medical communities, Medaca created a new results-oriented process to provide early access and best-in-class diagnosis and treatment for patients on short-term disability. We also developed a new report called a Targeted Mental Health Assessment (TMHA©) that focuses on teaming up with family physicians and case managers to provide employees with effective treatment to help them recover and get back to work.

Today, Medaca has a proven track record in helping employees achieve full recovery and in facilitating early return to productivity with their employers. In doing so, it has created a process that has transformed the traditional method for examining and treating employees with mental health problems. Close to 90 per cent of our claimants are now returning to work before their STD period expires. We have significantly reduced employer STD and LTD-related costs – clearly a win-win for insurers, third-party administrators, psychiatrists, family physicians and, most importantly, the patient.

Medaca has grown to become a national network of psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric social workers and other mental health professionals, all of whom are valued associates. We have also established a national care centre to oversee quality, practice monitoring and outcome assessment delivered through our network. Our clients include a wide range of insurers, third party administrators and large private and public sector employers.

Welcome to Medaca.

There is another way!

Chris Anderson

President