Insurer's Telemed Plan Means Many Injured Workers Never Leave the Worksite

A Michigan-based group of insurance companies has taken an integrated approach to telemedicine, making a triage nurse and an occupational medicine physician part of the policy and part of the work environment. And while claimants' attorneys say the plan makes it too easy to minimize injuries and keep injured workers away from their own doctors, the AF Group's medical officials say the program has been a success for workers and employers: For more than 2,200 claims in the last three years, 64% of injured workers never left the workplace because of the injury. And for at least one larg...