Feature Article
December 3, 2011
Reprinted with permission from PartNers and the National Association of Occupational Health Professionals.
Collaboration Key to Managing Comp Claims
Experts Say Stewardship Helps Cut Costs, Improve Results
A
stewardship program that provides a structure for stakeholders to
jointly apply an analytical approach to workers' compensation claims
management has been shown to reduce costs and improve outcomes.
Expert
panelists at the recent Workers' Compensation and Disability Conference
produced by Risk & Insurance cited numerous benefits of a
cross-disciplinary collaboration including:
• The ability to establish baselines for comparative analysis.
• An opportunity to focus on trends to illuminate strengths and areas in need of improvement.
• A structure for the development of an action plan that delineates organizational goals, metrics and deliverables.
Read More...
Government Watchdog
December 3, 2011
Economy Affects Return-to-Work Rates
High unemployment rates appear to be increasing disability duration
rates for injured workers, according to Factors Influencing Return to
Work for Injured Workers: Lessons from Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, a new
report from the non-profit Workers Compensation Research Institute
(WCRI), Cambridge, Mass. In case studies, researchers found the economy
has diminished employers' capacity to offer temporary modified duty
assignments to injured workers and provide permanent job accommodations
for workers who need them.
The analysis suggests that governmental policies on temporary disability
benefit termination that provide financial incentives and promote early
return to work help reduce employers' indemnity costs, minimize injured
worker detachment and decrease the likelihood of longer-term absence.
Visit www.wcrinet.org.
Read More...
Health Habits
December 3, 2011
Occupational Medicine Guidelines Discourage Use of Opioids
Opioid prescriptions for the treatment of chronic pain are one the most
under-appreciated cost drivers in workers' compensation, Joe Paduda,
principal, Health Strategy Associates, Madison, Conn., said during a
presentation at the annual national Workers' Compensation and Disability
Management Conference.
Medications that fall within the opioid class include hydrocodone
(Vicodin), oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet), morphine (Kadian, Avinza)
and codeine. Occupational medicine specialists say an injured worker who
is taking an opioid medication is at much greater risk for extended
disability and drug dependency than one who is treated in accordance
with American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
guidelines (www.acoem.org/Guidelines_Opioids.aspx).
Read more...
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