Employer's School - Take Control

Saturday, May 22, 2004 | 0

The following is the first in a lengthy series of articles that, when pieced together, comprise the "Employer's School" developed by Brent Heurter, Founder and Chief Solutions Officer of ClearComp. This first article presents a list of topics that will be discussed in the future, as well as the introduction.

TAKE CONTROL

Course Outline

Overview: What This Course Will Do for You

Introduction: Best Practice Self-Evaluation

Lessons
1. Create a Culture of Vigilance and Determination
2. Find Religion
3. Know Your Workers' Compensation Facts
4. Educate Your Employees to Prevent Injuries Before They Happen
5. Establish a System for the Appropriate Medical Care for Injured Employees
6. When Injuries Occur, Act with Urgency to Investigate
7. Show Genuine Care for Your Injured Employees
8. Have a Tightly Managed System in Place for Managing Minor Accidents
9. Always Provide Transitional Duty
10. Implement World-Class Hiring Procedures
11. Extinguish Fraud in Your Organization
12. Hold Your Carrier Accountable
13. Attend Unit Stat Claims Review Meetings and Analyze Your Experience Modification
14. Catch Errors and Know the Rules
15. Hire the Best Insurance Broker You Can Find.

Conclusion

Overview

The purpose of this workshop is to provide proven methods and best practices to employers.

Who should participate?

This course is designed for those who own or manage a California business with between 50 and 5,000 employees who want to take control of their workers' compensation processes and substantially cut costs.

Control Your Costs will provide the support and guidance you need to drive strategic change throughout your entire organization. You will leave the workshop with the knowledge and tools you need to take control.

Why do I need this course?

The first step toward change is to become aware of who really pays the tab for the workers' compensation system. For years, the prevailing myth has been that the insurance company pays for everything. That couldn't be more false!

The fact is, the employer pays for every claim, eventually, in the form of higher premiums. The insurer might initially pay for a claim, but the employer will ultimately reimburse the insurer dollar for dollar-with interest.

Unfortunately, there are "players" who take advantage of the system-ill-intentioned employees, doctors, and attorneys. Ultimately, everybody pays for this abuse. The employer pays, through higher premiums. And employees pay as well-because there is less money available for other employees who need it.

How can this course help?

The workers' compensation cost-containment process is challenging and complex. Few businesses are able to perform strongly in every aspect, yet the ones that do will save thousands and thousands of dollars.

In this workshop, we will examine and tackle workers' comp cost issues from every angle. We'll show you tactics and strategies that you can put into practice immediately.

Introduction: Best Practice Self-Evaluation

Many California businesses have developed strategies to gain control of their workers' compensation costs. They have slashed hundreds of thousands of dollars from their budgets by applying in-house controls and establishing a series of best practices.

We are going to share their strategies with you so that you, too, can immediately-and permanently-lower your costs. These best practices will reduce your workers' compensation premium rates by 30% or more. By following these practices, you'll improve your internal management of unwieldy workers' compensation claims and reap substantial financial rewards.

Let's look at the best practice checklist. We'll discuss them briefly here to help you compare and evaluate your own procedures. How many of these practices exist in your workplace? We will later go into more depth in this series. We will also offer you some tools and solutions to help you achieve "best practice" status at your company.

* I have created a culture of vigilance and determination in my organization. Leaders who gain control of unwieldy, inconsistent, and ineffective workers' compensation procedures inevitably achieve cost cutting solutions. If you don't take part in finding solutions, you may just become part of the problem!

* I have "found religion." It's the momentum you'll need to better manage and control your claims. Throughout the company, there must be a complete culture change in which there is a heightened sense of urgency about trimming costs and turning an inefficient workers' comp system around. In order to make this happen, the person at the top has to "find religion," and become zealous about taking an active-rather than a passive-role in managing workers' compensation claims.

* I know my workers' compensation facts. Knowledge is power. Have you tapped into the best research available and studied the successes that other companies have attained?

* I educate my employees to prevent injuries before they happen. Employees should receive safety training and should be briefed on the procedures to follow in the event of an accident. Employees should also be informed about how the workers' compensation system functions. They need to know that the system will help them in the event of an injury.

* I've established a system for the appropriate medical care for injured employees. Your system should provide optimal care for workers' injuries, but it should also closely monitor the program of care and coordinate that care with medical practitioners. This establishes the best treatment-with the best prospects for returning an employee to work.

* When injuries occur, my organization acts with urgency to investigate. The first day is the best time to conduct an investigation to determine how to proceed with a claim.

* I show genuine care for my injured employees. Your employees need to know that they will be provided the best in quality care, and that you are on their side in getting them well again so that they can return to work.

* I have a tightly managed system in place for managing minor accidents. Do not allow a minor injury to become a major claim. Many employers are under the false impression that they cannot pay for their own first aid claims. Companies can. And by doing so, they save money.

* I always provide transitional duty. The key to any effective workers' compensation system is to get injured workers back on the job as soon as they are ready to return to work. Having meaningful work assignments for these workers is critical.

* I have implemented world-class hiring procedures. At the very root of any workers' comp cost control effort is a focus on improving hiring practices. By hiring smart today, you'll alleviate the need to manage tough later. It's far better to conduct a thorough background check of a potential employee before hiring than to discover-too late-that you have a "professional victim" on your staff.

* I have extinguished fraud in my organization. To minimize the opportunity for fraud, you'll need to create a tight, seamless workers' compensation system in which roles and responsibilities are clear, claims are handled efficiently, and medical treatment is monitored. When fraud is suspected, you'll have the tools available to fight it and win!

* I hold my carrier accountable. Most employers don't realize their rights when it comes to working with insurance carriers. Your insurer must be willing to discuss with you all the elements of your claim files that affect your premium.

* I attend unit stat claims review meetings and analyze my experience modification. Mistakes are often made when carriers file their unit stat filing reports. And those mistakes can be very costly. Errors in your experience modification can have an adverse effect on your premium rates for three years. Make sure that you're not paying anymore than you're legally required to.

* I catch errors and know the rules. Aggressive approaches to workers' compensation charges and calculations for temporary workers and subcontractors will pay dividends. There are simple ways to ensure that your firm does not end up paying for unwarranted workers' comp claims.

* I've hired the best insurance broker I could find. Your insurance broker is the one person who can make or break your long-term success. Other than your insurance broker, no one provides support to assist employers control workers' compensation costs.

Ask yourself these questions: What are your weakest areas? Can you see where you need to improve your practices? What challenges have you faced, and what have you learned from them?

Most employers in California are not practicing all of these strategies. But that's why I have prepared this series. When you are done with this series, you will have the knowledge and tools you need to institute immediate savings.

The next few articles in this series will review each of these proven success strategies in detail.

Article series by Brent Heurter.
Brent Heurter is the Founder and Chief Solutions Officer of ClearComp, a workers' compensation alternative for companies that desire to control and reduce their workers' compensation costs. Brent can be reached at 888-CLEAR-89 or email brent@clearcomp.com.

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