Strengthen Relationships to Improve Workers' Comp

Thursday, March 11, 2010 | 0

By Frank Lucchetti

Our workers’ compensation system was put into place to better the lives of our workers, to support them through unexpected times of hardship caused by their labors. Unfortunately, it is often the case that the system focuses on issues other than the well-being of the individual. Personal factors such as positive self-esteem, one’s role in the family, personal identity in regards to employment, and one’s self-fulfillment are aspects of life that can become highly unstable after an injury in the workplace.
 
This is where we need to see relationships strengthened on behalf of the injured worker. The treating doctors, insurance professionals, lawyers and representatives should collaborate with the individual to help the process of moving forward. For instance, mental health workers need to help an injured worker form plans to return to a productive work environment. Additionally, there should not be instances of furthering a worker’s impairment from receiving treatment for their injuries; effort must be made to make it possible for the individual to function in the open labor market.
 
All of the players within the workers’ compensation system need to work together to stimulate an efficient network of care and rehabilitation, the end goal being a return to work as soon as possible. In keeping with the political climate in our country, we need to understand that change is necessary and that, yes, we can change. That includes making workers’ compensation responsive to the needs of the injured worker as well as the profit motives of insurance companies. Contrary to what many believe, they are not diametrically opposed.
 
If an injured worker’s needs are efficiently and effectively met, it is possible the workers’ compensation system will become more cost-effective. It is in the best interest of our country, of our insurance industry, and of our people that the injured worker be returned to a fulfilling life. By setting realistic goals in helping return the injured worker to an environment of productivity, we can change the perspective of the individual from victim to someone capable of making the necessary changes to return to a life of productivity.

I hope you’ll join me as we discuss this and other issues at the upcoming Making Workers’ Comp Work Conference in San Francisco (March 11-12).
 
Frank Lucchetti is a keynote speaker at the upcoming Making Workers Comp Work Conference. He is a clinical and  medical psychologist and founder and director of the North Bay Center for Behavioral Medicine in Napa.