Independent clinical review for self-insured employers

Your reserves are full of six-figure MSAs. Are they right?

On the claims you're self-insured for, an outside vendor writes the MSA that becomes your reserve, and you have no way to know whether that number is right. SecondLook gives self-insured employers an independent clinical review of those MSAs and your highest-exposure claims. Physician-built, signed by a certified MSA consultant, every conclusion cited to the chart and the medical literature, and built to be approved the first time.

87% of our MSAs approved by CMS as submitted, on first review. And when a record is finally read line by line, the right number can fall hard: $147K to $47K on a recent claim.
Send me the real, deidentified MSA to review →
app.secondlookhealth.ai
MSA Worksheet · Projected Lifetime
Cervical fusion revision
CPT 22551 · projected year 4
$38,400
Pain management injections
CPT 64483 · annual
$4,200/yr
Oxycodone 10mg
ICD-10 M54.12 · ongoing
$1,860/yr
The problem

What you're up against

MSAs that don't fit the record
MSAs come in higher than they should, driven by conservative assumptions that don't reflect actual treatment patterns or state rules.
TPA black box
TPA decisions on complex claims live in a black box. You sign the check; you don't see the clinical reasoning.
False economy
Aggressive cost-cutting on workers' comp looks cheap on the spreadsheet and expensive everywhere else: reopens, litigation, indemnity blowups, workforce trust.
No expert on staff
You don't have a physician or certified MSA consultant in-house to push back when the medicine, or the allocation, doesn't add up.
The track record

MSA results you can audit

87%
of MSAs submitted to CMS approved as submitted, on first review
1,180+
MSAs prepared since 2011, predominantly workers' compensation
$708,730
in CMS over-allocations reversed on appeal: money that stayed in the settlement instead of the set-aside
25+ years
of MSA practice leadership
Career record of Leta Sharkey-Laugle, MSCC, who leads SecondLook's MSA practice
Leta Sharkey-Laugle, MSCC
Leta Sharkey-Laugle, MS, NCC, CRP, MSCC, CLCP
Leads SecondLook's MSA practice. 25+ years in workers' compensation and settlement services; former chair, ICHCC Medicare Set-Aside; wrote the utilization review framework adopted by the State of California.
Backed by the field.

Proven on high-exposure claims

Trusted by the organizations closest to complex workers' comp, with results validated independently.

99%

clinical accuracy benchmarked against our anchor customer's own clinicians across ~400 evaluations

Our clients

  • Top managed care platforms in workers' comp
  • Clinical consultants doing Medicare set-aside, life care planning, and medical cost projections
  • Large hospital systems (clinical trials and customers)

Compliance

  • HIPAA compliant
  • SOC 2 Type II certified
  • Closed-system AI: records never train outside models
Board & advisors

Backed by leaders at the top of medicine, technology, and risk

Jean Drouin, MD
Jean Drouin, MD
Board member; founder & former CEO, Clarify Health
Chris Longhurst, MD
Chris Longhurst, MD
CEO, Seattle Children's; former CMO/CDO, UC San Diego Health
Matt Lungren, MD
Matt Lungren, MD
Former Chief Scientific Officer, Microsoft Health
Martin Ellingsworth
Martin Ellingsworth
Insurance analytics leader; former President, ISO Innovative Analytics (Verisk); ex-J.D. Power
Paul Lavin
Paul Lavin
Former President & CEO, American Health Holding (Aetna); Guidewire board, Lead Independent Director
Learn more about us →
Simple to start

How it works

1

Send one claim

One outstanding MSA or one complex, high-exposure claim, by secure transfer.

2

We read the whole record

AI builds the clinical chronology across the full chart, then a certified MSA consultant reviews the causation behind every future-care line.

3

Get a defensible report in 5 business days

Every conclusion cited to the chart page and the medical literature, ready for adjuster, IME, and CMS. The work product is yours. Built to clear CMS the first time.

Customer story

What the original MSA got wrong: a $147K reserve that should have been $47K

A single high-exposure claim, re-read line by line — and what the original review missed.

Read the full $147K to $47K teardown →
How we're different

Side by side

Traditional MSA / TPA-linked vendors SecondLook Health Why it matters
Whose side are they on? — Retained by your carrier or TPA. Incentives sit with the parties already managing your claim. ✓ Works for you, the employer. No TPA or carrier alignment. You can't audit their numbers using a vendor they picked.
Who actually reads the chart? — Nurse or analyst work; physician oversight is often a veneer. ✓ A certified MSA consultant with an 87% first-pass CMS record leads every case. Physician sign-off available. The credential behind the review is what holds up at settlement and audit.
How do they use AI? — Manual, template-driven. AI, where it exists, is basic text extraction. ✓ Physician-built AI reads the full record, 5,000+ pages, and cites every finding to the chart and the literature. A clinician validates before anything goes out. Clinical depth at speed, and a conclusion you can actually defend.
What do they focus on? — High-volume allocations off standard pricing tables. Broad and shallow. ✓ Individual high-exposure claims only. Deep and fully cited. Your biggest claims aren't solved by a faster template.
What do I walk away with? — A templated, compliance-oriented report. ✓ Source-backed reasoning pointed at the right care plan and the true exposure. A defensible number, real savings, and a better path for the injured employee.
Get started

See a redacted MSA review

See the actual deliverable before you send a single claim.

Send me the sample review →

Just your work email. No sales pitch.