In the extreme case, an employer could shut down the business, throw in the towel. Highly unlikely. Realistically there are several steps employers and other stakeholders can take to GET INVOLVED in their claim management programs. Here's just a few of my favorite.
- Report all injuries as soon as possible. It's fairly common knowledge that the sooner everyone knows about an injury, the sooner it can be managed. This leads to the next important point.
- Get the injured worker prompt appropriate medical care. Get them the best care a workers' compensation dollar can buy. If you want the best outcome, why would you skimp here? Who would you want to see if it were your injury -- the doctor who just processes injuries and prescribes anti-inflammatories, tells you to follow up with your family physician if not better in a week or the occupational health physician who understands how to approach work injuries, what is necessary to help you get better and back to work, and what the signs of trouble may be? Do you want a physician who follows what massive amounts of research says provides the best outcome, or the doctor who disregards evidence-based medicine in exchange for their anecdotal, 30 year old medical school training. I wouldn't want a mechanic who only worked on cars from the 1970s to work on my 21st century car that's basically a computer running on gasoline (or electric, for that matter). Get your employees to the best providers who are on top of the most current medical practices, and follow evidence-based treatment guidelines.
- Reduce delays in care by getting treatment approved, appointments scheduled, and referrals made TIMELY. The sooner we can help that injured worker get the care they need, the sooner everyone can learn what the true injury is, what the treatment plan will look like and assess the RTW opportunities. Nurse case managers can help with this process.
- Communicate effectively! Communication is often the cause and the solution to all problems in a claim. Keep everyone in the loop -- find a way to do it. Maybe it's a list of everyone who you need to update, written down on a sheet of paper. Maybe it's an email distribution list that you create for each employee's claim. Whatever your strategy is, keep everyone up to date. As the saying goes, communicate by a factor of 10, and then say it one more time. This group includes the injured worker, the employee's supervisor, the claim representative, nurse case manager, medical providers, and whoever else may be involved in the claim. Documentation will be key in communicating technical, detailed information. One example of this is the injured worker's pre-injury job description. Document it, send it around for review and approval (including the injured worker) and then send it to the treating physician, physical therapist, and nurse case manager. After all, how can you plan to get an injured worker back to work if you don't know what they need to do? Identify barriers to return to work early on and develop a plan to address them.
References:
Iles, R. A., & Wyatt, M. (2013). Applying the evidence: a real-world example of an intervention to reduce workers' compensation costs. Physical Therapy Reviews, 18(5), 395-402.
