YEAR IN REVIEW
The past few years have been very exciting at CorVel. Fiscal 2008 proved to be a year in which we were able to achieve strategic progress and strong financial results. Building upon the Company’s successful managed care foundation, we were able to improve upon last year’s record savings performance for our customers, continue the expansion of our claims management solutions, realize acquisition synergies and achieve record earnings per share. We are proud of what has been accomplished thus far and we are looking forward to continued progress this year.
From a marketplace perspective, workers’ compensation claims continued to decline as they have throughout this decade. Whether this is due to legislative reform, safety, off-shoring or open borders, the decline in claims has been a genesis for change within our industry. We have seen consolidation among some competitors seeking scale, while private equity has also been an active participant in the industry. Regulatory change has continued to influence industry directions. This past year, regulatory change has been targeted toward e-commerce. Even in today’s computer-driven world, much of healthcare delivery system continues to be a paper-based, manual process. As we think about the future, we expect to see a continued move toward the automation of the healthcare transaction, and our goal is to be on the forefront of this movement.
As the industry and marketplace continue to evolve, CorVel’s long term strategy of building and investing in proprietary assets has ensured that the Company can move forward with its own strategic agenda. Those competitors, for example, that have leased important portions of their revenue generating assets have become vulnerable to the forces of industry consolidation. With the rapid pace of change this past year, our ability to respond to a changing market place has been put to the test. Our decentralized organization and long standing investment in systems have allowed us to respond quickly and decisively.
CorVel remains committed to the vision of realizing a significantly more efficient process across the disability management continuum. Bringing together all of the information needed to ensure that an injured worker receives the right care at the right time and that healthcare providers are reimbursed appropriately, is a significant challenge. Technological developments and workflow automation that we have successfully deployed in the medical bill review process will help us bring a new and innovative solution to claims management. This is a very aggressive undertaking, and one that has a significant time horizon. However, the transformation is one that can be delivered incrementally. We have gotten started and we are excited about the potential.
In closing, we would like to recognize a few constituencies. First, to our customers, we greatly appreciate the opportunity that we have every day to meet and hopefully exceed your expectations. Second, we thank all of the outstanding CorVel associates that deliver our products and services every day. And finally, to our shareholders, we would like to welcome our new investors, and welcome back some of our historical long time investors. We thank you for your investment and continued support. We are excited by the prospects for our future and committed to the ongoing investments necessary for future innovation. We look forward to the challenges of the coming year and the continued execution of our strategy.
