Six Top Reasons to Do a Best Practice Assessment of Your Workers Comp Program

Why Begin with the Assessement? Here are the the last 6 Keys supporting taking the WC assessment. 6.  Return to Work and Transitional Duty When employees  are injured on the job, your goal is to  return them to work as soon as they are medically able.  Transitional duty (TD) enables injured workers to remain "on-the-job" while recovering from a work-related injury.  You must have a transitional duty policy in place. Transitional duty  is important to both employees and management as a tool to avoid the negative consequences occurring when employees are out of work for a long time. For employees, returning to work allows them to maintain important job skills and be part of the daily work routine.  They avoid becoming "psychologically disemployed" and distanced from their work environment. Employers experience  lower work comp costs by keeping the services and skills of trained employees (versus paying for temporary workers – always costing more), improving employee retention and avoiding costly lawsuits.  You are also able to monitor employee recovery and prevent re-injury.  There may also be ADA requirements to try to accomodate an injured employee with medical restrictions which affect his major life activities. 7.  Medical Care Coordination How medical care  is handled during recovery is another determinate of cost savings.  Examine your medical cost containment and care coordination practices to discover the best ways for employers to insinuate themselves into this process.  Too many employers believe the medical aspects of workers' comp management are outside their realm of control.  The assessment shows the areas where you do have control, and helps you examine ways to exert this control. 8.  Medical Cost Containment Often employers  think medical cost containment is an area of which they have little control.  Controlling medical costs is achievable by reducing the number of treatment and/or reducing the cost of treatments.  Think about engaging the services of a third-party administrator (TPA) to administer your claims.  Although there will be fees, the benefits outweigh the investment. The key to using  a cost containment service is to thoroughly vet them and know exactly what is being offered and how they match your needs.  Organize a vendor day to learn about your claims handler's services and explore services companies in your area to supplement what your adjuster offers. 9.  Fraud, Abuse & Malingering The main point  in controlling fraud is to jump on it immediately.  DON'T WAIT.  While it's true most injury claims are legitimate, it's the tiny few fraudulent claims that will cost you the most in time and money. Investigations are  a useful tool to control workers' compensation costs when you need to determine the legitimacy of a claim. Be prepared to document and substantiate any suspicious claim from simple observation to videotaping activities. Communicate to your  employees your  "anti-fraud" policy, to make sure all employees know EVERY suspicious claim will be investigated and if found legitimate, prosecuted.  You know what is said about an "ounce of prevention."   So, when it comes to controlling fraud don't be the 200 pound gorilla in the room.  10. Training Initiatives Training is key  to turning employee cultures around and integrating workers' comp management into the culture so it is practiced along with the other business practices employees engage in.  Use the assessment to help you examine training initiatives you can use to augment implementation. Trained employees are more likely to respond appropriately in the event of a work-related incident, thus avoiding unwanted, unnecessary costs and bringing incidents to resolution quickly and efficiently.  (workersxzcompxzkit) Sounds overwhelming?!?   Maybe — but taking the assessment will help you pinpoint what areas you have in place, and what areas require implementation.  In this way, you don't start from scratch, because the assessment shows where you are on the journey to best practices — your ultimate goal.  From there, you can formulate the recommendations into an action plan, a timeline to success, and,  I predict, much  lower costs associated with workers' compensation.  Take the Assessment – It's Worth It! Author:  Rebecca Shafer, J.D.  consults for mid-market and national accounts focusing on project management, risk management assessments, data review, benchmarking, and development of Workers' Compensation and Injury Management Programs. Projects focus on development of training and education programs, document design, evaluation and integration of insurance claims administration and TPA services.  Contact her are:   [email protected] We are accepting short articles* (300-800 words). Contact us at: [email protected].