By: Desireé Erskine

My name is Desireé Erskine and I have been at The Phia Group for the past 17 years, the last 10 of which I have spent as an Overpayment Recovery Specialist in the Provider Relations Department.

As my family and I look forward to celebrating our daughter Kinsley’s first birthday this Sunday, we have revisited some of our fond memories and challenges in our first year as a family of five. In doing so, we have discussed how helpful Phia’s “Diapers and Wipes” program has been to our family.

The “Diapers and Wipes” program, per The Phia Group’s handbook:

If a Plan Participant is pregnant and expecting the birth of a child, they can choose to seek prenatal, neonatal and/or childbirth services from any number of in-network providers identified as leaders in both quality of care and fair pricing. After consulting with HR, if a Plan Participant chooses to utilize one of those identified providers for childbirth services, that Plan Participant will receive $300 per month to use on diapers and wipes (via a gift certificate and facilitated by creating an auto-ship account).

Some personal backstory: On the second day following her birth, Kinsley started breaking out in an area that was covered by the diaper. I suspected it was due to an allergy to formula as I had to supplement while in the hospital. I immediately stopped the formula and waited a few days to see if this would start to clear up. It did not. In fact, it had gotten progressively worse and went downhill quickly.

After several calls, trips, and visits, we were referred to the Boston Children’s Hospital Dermatology Program. We were told Kinsley had an ulcerating hemangioma. This hemangioma grew in diameter and burrowed deep, becoming full-blown by the time she was two weeks. It was approximately the size of a golf ball cut in half. Doctors have found that the most successful way to treat this is with a BP medication. With the dose she needed, Kinsley had to be monitored closely; after a few weeks of increasing the dose on our own, the doctors thought it would be best to have her admitted on an inpatient basis. She and I spent a few days at Children’s so that she could be watched. After passing her “test,” she was sent home with medication to be taken twice daily, along with numbing ointments.

I am happy to say after a year of monthly doctor’s appointments, dose increases, topicals, medication taken twice a day, and quite a few DIAPERS – we are almost in the clear. Fortunately!

For a second though, just imagine an open sore in the diaper region of an infant. This was painful and tiresome, for her and for us. This is where the Diapers and Wipes program has helped our family tremendously. As we all know, infants are changed often, for obvious reasons. Between her bathroom breaks and all the creams we needed, we had to “over change” her. She needed a clean and dry diaper constantly. So, the very generous $300 a month stipend for diapers and wipes relieved our family of an incredible financial burden. One we would have had if we did not participate in this program.

We are beyond grateful for the financial support that Phia has provided. If you are looking to expand your family (congrats!), I highly encourage you to look into this program more and ask questions if needed. It has saved us in more ways than one.

Thank you Adam & OPCOM for the help this past year and for providing this program! I am extremely grateful to be a part of such a great company!