Moore: Why Is Workers' Comp Claims Staff Turnover So High?

Friday, July 7, 2023 | 0

I viewed/attended a webinar sponsored by various workers’ comp organizations just before the holiday. Not to center on the negative aspects, but why is the workers’ comp claims staff turnover figure increasing at such a high rate? I will explain why this figure is so important to a long-term file.

James Moore

You can see the webinar and download the slide deck here. It is definitely worth a review of the slides and, if you have the time, watching the webinar.

Peter Rousmaniere invited me to attend a workers' comp think tank in Chicago almost 10 years ago. Check out this article that I wrote about the meeting. The study blossomed into a full benchmarking study with 10 years of solid data.

One of the years included a survey of frontline workers. Finally, someone asked the workers in the trenches. I do not want to focus on the negative, as the study/webinar/slides show many positive developments.

Why focus on claims staff turnover?

One of the huge concerns, when we do claims reviews for clients, is the degradation of file handling due to multiple adjusters working on a file over time. That leads to the loss of the “internal map” of the file. Claims staff turnover, including medical-only adjusters and administrative assistants, also affects the files negatively. 

Look at the slides and a well-thought-out solution by one of the speakers and, of course, my conclusion. 

My first claims manager from long ago said, “Do not bring me a problem unless you have a solution in your back pocket.”

Probable solution

A solution that stuck out was presented by Jason Beans, CEO and founder of Rising Medical Solutions. Jason and Rachel Fikes (also of Rising Medical) have been very helpful in answering my stupid questions over the years.

A quote from slide 19:

Huge have/have not gap appearing — the companies that execute on their technology and culture will create massive competitive advantages over their more static peer group over the next five years. 

My conclusion is that I agree with Jason. I think technology and culture post-pandemic are beyond critical, as claims staff turnover can be reduced by permanently offering remote work, if possible, or providing in-office work if the claims staff does not like remote work, or a combo of inside/outside work.

This blog post is provided by James Moore, AIC, MBA, ChFC, ARM, and is republished with permission from J&L Risk Management Consultants. Visit the full website at www.cutcompcosts.com.