Planning to Succeed at the Start of the Year
Today, I wanna talk about, as we’re kicking off this year here in January… planning to succeed rather than planning to fail for the year as we set off on this new year.
Account Handling Instructions
Specifically, today, in regards to this topic, is setting up your account handling instructions, your account service instructions — a lot of different names for it — between the employer and claims administrator relationship.
So that could be your TPA. That could be your carrier, who’s ever managing and adjusting your claims.
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“How Do I Get My Adjusters To Follow My Account Handling Instructions?”
What does your account handling instructions look like?
Reactive Mode vs. Intentional Planning
And if you fail to plan these out, if you fail to be intentional about this relationship with your claims handling organization, you’re just getting this reactive mode.
You’re getting this reactive mode, and you’re just kinda backing up. You’re running from the rock instead of pushing the rock from the Indiana Jones movies.
Three Things to Be Intentional About
I’m gonna talk about three things today in regards to your account instructions that you need to be intentional about as far as putting this together.
Because so often, companies will have — or maybe never look at — or maybe they’re so full in terms of complexity that they’re not actually useful.
Clear. Concise. Easy to Understand.
They’re clear… They’re concise… and they’re easy to understand… Easy to understand.
Clear, concise, easily understood.
Why Length Doesn’t Equal Effectiveness
I’ve seen account instructions that are fifty, sixty, seventy-five pages. Nobody’s looking at those.
They might be intentional in terms of how you’re managing your claims and setting in this relationship, but they’re not realistic.
Clear, concise, easily understood.
Your Homework
So here’s your homework. Take a look at your account instructions. What do they say now?
Is it a one pager that’s very brief?
Is it a sixty pager that’s super complex?
Or is it somewhere in between?
A Living Document
As you’re setting these up, as you’re setting this up — as setting up this partnership, this relationship, this employer claims handling relationship — it needs to be a living document… living document.
Are you looking at this regularly?
Is this something you’re talking about in your claims review meetings, in your stewardship meetings, in your quarterly business review meetings?
Setting the Relationship Up for Success
Are you setting this up in terms of how do we be successful in this relationship… such an important piece to success.
As we’re setting off on this year, what does that look like between the employer and the claims handling organization?
Clear, concise, easily to understand living document.
Is it something that you’re using?
What Do You Have — and What Do You Want It to Be?
What do you have now is your first step?
And then what do you want it to be in terms of how that relationship is set up?
And you tweak it. You adjust it. You set some parameters.
Are they working? Are they not working?
Make It a Key Piece to Success
And you use it as a living document… and make it be a key piece to success in that relationship..
Final Thought
Again, my name is Michael Stack, CEO of AMAXX.
Remember, your work today in workers’ compensation can have a dramatic impact on your company’s bottom line, but it will have an impact on someone’s life.
So be great.
Michael Stack, CEO of Amaxx LLC, is an expert in workers’ compensation cost containment systems and provides education, training, and consulting to help employers reduce their workers’ compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is co-author of the #1 selling comprehensive training guide “Your Ultimate Guide to Mastering Workers’ Comp Costs: Reduce Costs 20% to 50%.” Stack is the creator of Injury Management Results (IMR) software and founder of Amaxx Workers’ Comp Training Center. WC Mastery Training teaching injury management best practices such as return to work, communication, claims best practices, medical management, and working with vendors. IMR software simplifies the implementation of these best practices for employers and ties results to a Critical Metrics Dashboard.
Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
Workers’ Comp Roundup Blog: https://blog.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/
Injury Management Results (IMR) Software: https://imrsoftware.com/
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