Employers Need To Visit Medical Providers Where Injured Workers Are Treated

Many companies I speak with indicate they have not visited the medical providers to whom they send their injured workers. In not doing this, they miss an opportunity to integrate medical services into their workers’ compensation cost containment program.

Many employers don’t make these visits because they do not know what to look for, they do not what to ask, they assume the claims administrator has set up the relationship so a personal visit from their company is unnecessary or do they not understand this is an important best practice. We are developing Guidelines for Meeting With Your Medical Providers.

The purpose of these visits is to establish a relationship with the doctors who are treating the workers. The doctors need to know you are a caring employer and are as concerned about the health of the worker as the doctor is and that you are a partner in the worker’s recovery. The face-to-face meeting is critical to establish rapport and to show you are willing to be held accountable for your employee’s recovery. You are holding them accountable, so you need to be accountable too so the relationship is seen as a partnership.

You need to know that the medical facility is adequate, or hopefully excellent, and provide a range of full services, e.g. can x-rays and physical therapy be done on site. If not, your post-injury response needs to incorporate methods to obtain off site treatments when necessary. Hours of operation are important also. Are they open 7 days/week, the hours your employees are likely to be injured?

Medical provider visits are an opportunity to provide your contact information, explain what your company does, show what types of transitional duty are available and request the medication restrictions on the first visit with the employee.

Fees are not as important as the other criteria. In fact, I often suggest paying the going rate since you want better than “average” service. You want the best for your employees, and that my mean paying a little more.

Next, the medical providers should be invited to your facility to see what you do, meet your staff and view possible transitional duty assignments. Learn more about working with medical providers: http://reduceyourworkerscomp.com//wasteful-workers-compensation-practices.php

WC Calculator www.ReduceYourWorkersComp.com/calculator.php
TD Calculator www.ReduceYourWorkersComp.com/transitional-duty-cost-calculator.php
WC 101 www.ReduceYourWorkersComp.com/workers_comp.php

Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws are different. Consult with your corporate legal counsel or other professionals before implementing any cost containment programs.