Attorney Involvement Equals Increased Workers Compensation Costs
When you stand back and think about it, attorneys not only create friction in the worker injury claim process. They often eliminate the win-win option for both the employer and employee. All you have to do is watch TV commercials or read ads in the local newspaper to find how aggressive attorneys are at soliciting workers compensation business. They work hard at giving employees the impression that, by retaining them, their insurance award will be higher. What the employee fails to realize is that many situations they actually get less that they otherwise would. Yet in the process attorneys often exaggerate the system and prolong claim settlement for a percentage of the workers compensation award.
The strategy of the injured employee’s attorney hinges on their involvement early in the claim process. Once the attorney sends a letter of representation to the employer, or files a formal claim on behalf of the injured employee, the employer can no longer discuss the claim with the injured employee. This gives the attorney strategic advantage as they will totally control the information provided to the injured employee.
Once this is established they often try to gain control over the medical care provided to the injured employee. For example, they may send the employee to a healthcare provider who is more likely to provide an evaluation of the employee’s health and work capacity status that suits their legal initiative. Unfortunately, this alternative medical analysis is often in conflict with the information supplied by the initial treating physician. To make matters worse the attorney may send the injured employee to a physician who will provide the more aggressive and invasive care. This not only raises the value of the claim itself, it may not be in the injured employee’s interest.
It has been my experience that the vast number of litigated worker injury claims could have been avoided using basic, tried and true principles. The patent-pending CompEraser system provides, on-line 24/7, the tools and processes to help your organization minimize the involvement of workers compensation attorneys.
Resources also include the formalization of your safety team, injury prevention, OSHA compliance, safety training, 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.
