by Bill Zachry, SCIF Board Member and Barry Bloom, Managing Partner, The bdb Group “As the claims manager goes, so goes the office.” The most important job in a workers’ compensation claim office is the claims manager. Most companies strive for consistency and accuracy with regard to benefit provision. They work hard to achieve these results while trying to maintain a low cost of claims administration. To accomplish these results, they establish policies…
Management Engagement: The approach and attitude that senior management takes regarding injury prevention, safety, employee welfare, interaction with injured workers, and treatment of claims partners are primary determinants of successfully managing the workers' compensation program. Hiring the Right Employee: Hiring qualified and engaged employees is essential for reducing the risk of workplace injuries and subsequent workers' compensation claims. In today’s employment market this can be a particular challenge. Safety and…
The actor Leslie Howard, who played Ashley Wilks in the Gone with the Wind movie, was killed during World War II when the airplane on which he was a passenger was shot down. After the war it was discovered that the English had broken the Enigma code and they knew that his plane was going to be targeted by the Luftwaffe. The British Military did not warn the plane or…
I would like to thank all of you who have diligently read our “Simple Ideas” papers during the past year. I admit that a few of the papers we sent out were actually not “simple”. These papers are either focused on improving outcomes for the injured workers while reducing costs for the employers, or are designed to help bring you up to speed on the latest technology which will impact…
Studies are regularly published which indicate that a high percentage of injuries occur during the first year of employment. With the current churning of workers due to the great resignation it is important for employers to focus on their new employees (and long-term employees who are performing new jobs at the same employer) as an opportunity to reduce claims frequency. The reasons for a higher claim frequency during the…
One of the keys for companies to survive and prosper during the pandemic was to embrace new technology. Many companies pivoted from mandating all their employees show up every day to utilizing Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or other video conferencing programs to hire, train, maintain their corporate culture and encourage interaction and creativity. Originally, I was skeptical about the process of hiring, training, and managing new claims examiners remotely. The productivity…
In the movie You’ve Got Mail, Meg Ryan asks why all men use quotes from The Godfather. The answer is quite simple. The book and movies teach lessons of business and life, and they are easy for men to understand. There are many good business theories and life experience lessons that came from the movie. How to deal with business partners: "I will just make him an offer he cannot…
Introduction Actuaries require accurate and timely information for them to calculate the reserve loss development pattern as well as the ultimate exposure for losses. Even though management may not always be happy with the information, knowing the correct ultimate exposure is always ultimately good for the insurance company or the employer. Due to company silos, process or ignorance, most claims operations do not regularly engage with the actuary process. Quality…
An ideal system serves the two primary stakeholders (the employer and the employee). An ideal system allows and encourages clear, concise, timely and accurate communication (in-person, phone, fax, text, app, semaphore, morse code, smoke signals) between all parties. An ideal system provides a prompt provision of fixed and “fair” benefits to the legitimately injured worker within a no-fault system. An ideal system ensures that all workers are covered by the…
The right medical care at the right time is always in the best interest of the injured worker and almost always will result in the lowest claims costs.The right medical care at the right time will (almost always) result in an earlier return to work with less permanent residual disability.Evidence-based medicine is the right care for the legitimately injured workers. (There is a hierarchy on how to apply evidence-based medicine).One…
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