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Workers’ Compensation is Not Insurance

Author in the Prevent Future Claims category

Too many employers believe that workers’ compensation is insurance. Premium rates, experience modifiers, claim reserves…this is not workers’ compensation. This is just a way to finance it.

Workers’ compensation was designed to ensure that injured employees have access to medical care and salary indemnification for work-related injuries. This system was established at a time when some employers maintained hazardous workplaces and abdicated their responsibilities to the injured worker.

Times have changed and our workplaces are much safer. But, many employers still neglect their duty to the injured worker when they do no more than purchase a workers’ compensation policy. Statute requires a system, not a policy.

So what goes into a workers’ compensation system?

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Instruments of Recuperation

Author in the Reduce Current Costs category

“Just reading the material made me realize I could lose weight without having to exercise that much,” one of my injured employees said to me the other day. Simple eating changes accompanied by drinking plenty of water every day can improve health, weight, and skin problems – no matter what your activity level. Being idle because of an injury does not mean that you need to have an idle mind. When attending Health and Wellness Rooms injured employees don’t sit and watch television or get lost in the system – they get moving. Whether it is a walk, stretching or wellness education, nobody is left behind with a tailor made schedule to fit all work modifications. We want your employees to be BETTER, faster!

What could be better than finding out that even though you have an injury you can maintain and/or even improve your habits? 

The simplicity of having your employees on a modified work status program, coming into the Health and Wellness Room to learn about the injury that they suffer from, and discovering alternative ways to maintain weight and health while incapacitated, is reason enough to be excited that this option is out there for any sized company. I’ve been told by some employees in our Los Angeles Health and Wellness Room that they look forward to coming in after the weekend because they are getting better from stretching, walking, and maintaining a routine. Not only that, but the forestallment of future injuries is money saved as well. Because we are an advocate for the employer, we are your ally in employee recovery.

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Costly Medical Errors – Surgery Is Not Always The Answer

Author in the Reduce Current Costs category

“Potentially preventable medical errors that occur during or after surgery may cost employers nearly $1.5 billion a year, according to new estimates by the Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).”

“In a study published in the July 28 issue of the journal Health Services Research, AHRQ’s William E. Encinosa, Ph.D. and Fred J. Hellinger, Ph.D., found that insurers paid an additional $28,218 (52 percent more) and an additional $19,480 (48 percent more) for surgery patients who experienced acute respiratory failure or post-operative infections, respectively, compared with patients who did not experience either error.”

The authors also found these additional costs for surgery patients who experienced the following medical errors compared with those who did not: More…

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Safety Programs – For a Healthy Balance Sheet

Author in the Prevent Future Claims category

The quality of an organization’s safety programs forecasts an employees’ likelihood of entering the workers’ compensation system. The time and resources invested in enforcing safe work practices reflect the employer’s commitment, not only to guarding an employee from workplace hazards, but to protecting them from the hazards of our workers’ compensation system.

Carefully-crafted programs embed the standards for a safe workplace into daily operations. Successful programs begin with employee selection, protection of employees through training and hazard controls, engage employees in the process, and support the employee in their return to work, should they become injured. A safety program with this scope, protects an injured employee from a sometimes arbitrary and disabling workers’ compensation system.

Strong safety programs are the foundation upon which supportive and enriching tools can be provided to the injured employee. This is also the bedrock upon which substantial cost savings and productivity gains are built. Successful companies have already discovered the value of a strong safety program. In fact, it is rare that an organization enjoys high margins and strong revenue, in absence of a strong safety program.

Building a strong safety program begins with management commitment. If an organization lacks in-depth knowledge of workplace safety, or needs an objective assessment of their current program, a comprehensive review is in order. Proof Positive will develop a blueprint for safety program success.

Remember: Safety program quality is a proxy for balance sheet health.

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Social Capital – Funding the Trust in Workers’ Compensation

Author in the Reduce Current Costs category

The workers’ compensation system is filled with complex relationships and competing agendas. It can be confusing or even exasperating for an employee who must navigate this system alone. Employees need an advocate they can rely on while in the workers’ compensation system.

The employer must be that advocate.

By investing in prevention and early return-to-work systems, an employer can create social capital – the trust or ‘good will’ needed to maintain relationships – even in difficult situations. The key is to select a talented employee health partner. Proof:Positive can help you make these systems your own, by involving employees during every step. Engaging employees in prevention and the return-to-work process builds trust and shuts down the avenues for over-treatment and litigation.

Ask yourself this question: Do we give a F.I.G. about our injured employees? Use this mnemonic device to assess your organization’s ability to maintain trust when an employee becomes injured and enters the workers’ compensation system.

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The Numbers Are In: Workers Compensation is Costly!

Author in the Prevent Future Claims category

Each day U.S. workers suffer injury, disability, and death from workplace incidents. According to the CDC, private-sector workers experience 11,500 nonfatal work-related injuries/illnesses each day; more than half of these injuries/illnesses require job transfer, work restrictions, or time away from their jobs as a result. Among all workers – public and private sectors – 9,000 workers are treated in emergency departments each day, and approximately 200 of these workers are hospitalized. In 2004, this resulted in an estimated 3.4 million nonfatal injuries and illnesses among civilian workers that were serious enough to be treated in hospital emergency departments. The prior year those injuries cost businesses like yours $554 Billion.

The workplace can be a dangerous place. But it doesn’t have to be. Having a safety plan or team can reduce the risks of injury. Also having a plan for the worker that does get injured will help save costs and time loss for your company. You need to guide your company to a safer and more educated environment that will pay for itself in reduced workers compensation claims. A full-service consulting consortium like Proof:Positive can aid in reducing and preventing workplace injuries, neutralizing fraud, and saving valuable insurance dollars; our mission is to reduce your company’s injury and illness costs.

We can help. But don’t take our word for it, check out some of our client testimonials, regarding how well our services worked for them. 

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Know Your Work – The Benefit of a Physical Demand Analysis

Author in the Prevent Future Claims category

Successfully managing the return-to-work process requires employers to plug a gap in their knowledge. During our management careers, many of us have examined the supply chain, manufacturing process and distribution process. We think we know our business and the work that happens there.

We often don’t.

We don’t know what is required of the employees at the loading dock. We don’t know how difficult it might be to operate the high-torque impact wrench. We can only guess at the physical demands required to get the parts to the manufacturing line.

We don’t need to guess anymore. More…

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Knowledge is Contagious – Give Your Employees the Forum to Learn

Author in the Reduce Current Costs category

Many factors affect our health. Some are beyond our control, such as genetic makeup and age – but we can make changes to our lifestyle. By encouraging your employees to take steps toward healthy living, you can help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke and other serious diseases. Obvious practices are to eat well, maintain a healthy weight, be physically active and see a doctor for regular screenings.  

Incorporating these practices into lifestyles and routines can be difficult for those people who don’t realize their significance. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a place where your employees can learn this information while on the job and also have it available to your injured employees?  A Health and Wellness Room can help employees learn about a healthy lifestyle, which in return produces a healthy and productive employee. Knowledge is contagious and when one employee shares his knowledge about health or safety, it spreads to others.

Proof:Positive can provide your employee with a wealth of knowledge that will spread throughout your business. Proof:Positive can decrease your workers compensation costs through preventative measures or by educating the injured. All this can be done while they remain on normal payroll so lost time is reduced. Let us help you create a workplace filled with informed employees who are motivated to perform their duties safely.

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Spinal Tap: Secrets That Back Surgeons Won’t Tell You

Author in the Reduce Current Costs category

Low back pain is a universal human phenomenon. It affects, not just all occupations, but all age groups. In a given year over 80% of us will experience a bout of back pain. For about 50% of us it will be a memorable event. Between 10% and 20% will find the experience overwhelming. When employees suffer this predicament, they need support from the workplace to avoid becoming entangled in the medico-legal systems surrounding workers’ compensation.

An abundance of providers and products take aim at an employee’s back pain. Braces, mattresses, pills, therapies and surgeries are routinely applied to the aching back. Some of these interventions are ineffective, but harmless. Some are ineffective and harmful. None have proven to significantly alter the course or duration of low back pain.

Surgical stabilization has proven less effective than rehabilitation therapy for low back pain, as well as sciatica. Yet, spending for spinal fusions has increased over 500% in the last 15 years. Employers need not be duped into subjecting employees to ineffective or harmful care.

By providing a supportive workplace, the injured employee will recover more quickly, with better outcomes. Professionally staffed Health and Wellness Rooms offer exactly this kind of support. By remaining active, but within their physical limits, employees can experience quicker recovery from back injuries and return to work faster than employees exposed to surgical interventions. It’s a win-win for the employer and the employee.

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I Have the Answers…But You’re Standing on Them

Author in the Prevent Future Claims category

Can you imagine knowing how to lower your chances of cancer, decreasing the risk of heart disease, or having stress and depression, pardon the pun, a worry of the past? How about having a stronger heart, being more alert? Your wounds healing at a faster rate or even make your sex life a little steamier? Is it a perfect pill? No. You’re standing on the answer, or at least you should be. Get up and walk. There are numerous pieces of research that say exercise is the key to all, and many more, of these issues. Even small increments of ten minutes a day can help promote healing, boost your immune system, and decrease the stresses and risks of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, and many other ailments. There is evidence that exercise can help you to recover faster and return to work earlier, easier, and with more success.

How Exercise Helps:

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