Safeway Finds Early Intervention Reduces Incidents of Chronic Pain

By Greg Jones, Western Bureau ChiefSetting expectations for claimants that they will return to work quickly and with as little disability as possible showed promise for reducing the number of chronic pain claims, unnecessary surgeries and litigation, the head of Safeway's workers' compensation program told attendees of the Association of Workers' Compensation Professionals 13th annual Workers' Compensation Conference in Sacramento on Friday.Five years ago, the grocery chain started an early intervention program to test whether poor coping skills were responsible for increases i...