How To Implement An Effective Workers Compensation Disability Management Program – Strategy 2 Of 10
Once a formal temporary duty statement has been developed and communicated the next step is to assemble your disability management team. At a bare minimum the following individuals should make up your disability management team:
1. An Accident Coordinator
2. Medical provider(s)
3. Supervisors
4. Insurance company adjuster(s)
5. Last but not least, the injured employee
Each has important roles to play in this process and all must be on the same page for the temporary duty program to work effectively.
To effectively manage your workers compensation disability management program it is important to have a single point of contact within your organization. The Accident Coordinator should be this single point of contact. This is a tough and demanding job. Therefore, the Accident Coordinator should be an individual who has a good understanding of the workers compensation system, your organization, and has the skills and authority to act as a liaison between the various members of your disability management team. Typically this individual is someone in an administrative role at the operating level, such as the human resource director, director of personnel, or plant nurse. It is absolutely essential that the Accident Coordinator have the visible support of top management and have access to plant management and senior management whenever it is necessary. Not only do decisions made by the Accident Coordinator have a substantial financial impact upon the organization, production efficiency and employee morale are at stake as well.
If you have not already done so, a panel of medical providers should be established to ensure prompt, quality medical care for your injured employees and to cooperate fully in your temporary duty program. You should develop and use a checklist to evaluate medical providers situated in your local area. It is a good idea to tour their facilities after you have completed each survey. Once you have selected your preferred medical provider(s) it is also strongly recommended that they visit your facilities and so that they can understand the nature of your operation and anticipate the types of injuries that can arise in the normal course of business.
Your supervisors are the backbone of an effective workers compensation disability management program. They can literally make or break the program. For that reason sufficient time must be spend informing and training your supervisors on their role in the process. Each supervisor needs to take responsibility for easing the injured employee back to work. This responsibility includes understanding that the employee is not able to work at full speed and may need to return to temporary duty to build up strength and endurance. The supervisor also needs to be ready to deal with problems when they arise and be willing to reevaluate and modify work assignments in concert with the Accident Coordinator.
It is critical that you have a formal and detailed meeting with the claim adjusters who handle your workers compensation claims. There is not an insurance company around who will not be impressed with a well planned workers compensation disability management program and your commitment to containing costs. You should make this program an integral part of your underwriting submission each year. Depending upon the state of operation and market conditions this could translate into scheduled premium credits and other premium discounts. At the same time you need to review communication procedures with the adjuster(s) so that you are on the same page with them, and vice versa. The fact is that the average workers compensation adjuster today handles twice the case load of their predecessors and is much less experienced. Too often they simply cannot oversee each claim as closely as you can – and this can cost you money in the long run. For this reason, review the entire workers compensation disability management process that you have established and discuss with them how you expect them to communicate with you as they adjudicate each disability claim.
Employee responsibilities should be clearly spelled out in your workers compensation disability management policy. It is each employee’s responsibility to comply with this policy when out on work-related disability. The employee essentially has three areas of responsibility. First, all on-the-job injuries and accidents should be reported to their supervisor immediately, no later than the end of the work shift. They need to understand that this delay may make it difficult to understand the cause of the accident and prevent it reoccurrence. It may also delay the processing of the claim as well. Second, they have very specific instructions in the event they are injured. Third, they are expected to help in trying to prevent the accident from happening again. This will entail filling out the appropriate Accident Investigation form and answering any questions asked of them by their supervisor or the Accident Coordinator.
CompEraser comes with on-line, on-demand resources needed to CONTROL the temporary duty program, including this important step in the process. Resources also include the formalization of your safety team, injury prevention, OSHA compliance, safety training, prompt injury response, workers compensation disability management, plus more. These resources are available 24/7 and used irrespective of which workers compensation carrier you select. Its patent-pending technology also provides unique financial reports for monitoring the effectiveness of your safety and health program on an on-going basis. For more information visit our website at www.CompEraser.com.
