Reducing Workers Compensation claim cost by 40%
The total cost of work-related injuries was estimated to be $167.0 Billion in 2021. This cost estimate represents lost income and expenses incurred because of both fatal and non-fatal injuries according to the National Safety Council (NSC).
Research and experience have indicated that companies who take an early intervention approach can save up to 40% of the costs associated with workers compensation claims, including savings of:
- Wage and productivity losses,
- Medical expense
- Administrative expenses
- Compliance
Early interventions reduce workers compensation costs
An early intervention approach can be achieved by integrating the data, workflow and systems used to manage workers compensation claims thereby allowing companies to identify and act on an incident or injury at the earliest possible point. This integrated approach supported by:
- proactive follow-up;
- case management;
- return to work programs; and,
- understanding of data
Taken together, these processes help foster a successful workers’ comp, safety and return to work program.
Streamlining workers comp claims
Following best practices helps remove barriers to early intervention. To reduce the frequency, severity and overall costs of workplace injuries, there are several workers compensation best practices that should be incorporated into any workers compensation claims management system, including:
- Ability to report an Incident/ accident from the point of the accident electronically via mobile phone or tablet allowing an organization to act on the injury at the earliest possible point.
- Diary and trigger notifications are used to make sure tasks don’t fall through the cracks.
- Drill down dashboards that provide safety statistics, lag time reports, actionable dashboards and reporting analytics.
- Case Management Screens to include: A proactive method for managing lost time days and work restrictions.
- Role Based Security (mechanism to restrict data access): Role-based security is crucial to restrict data access, ensuring that sensitive information is only accessible to authorized personnel. This protects the privacy of individuals involved in the claims process and safeguards against unauthorized access, meeting regulatory and ethical standards.
- Automated compliance reporting that includes OSHA 300, 300A logs if applicable.
- Strong data security protocols followed, including: strong passwords, HIPAA certifications or similar, data encryption both in transit and at rest, multi-factor authentication, IDS, Intrusion Detection Systems, SOC, System of Control type II and III compliance.
The workplace is ever changing and it is important for an organization to seek out risk management software solutions that enable these best practices.