Red Hollingsworth had a problem. When several of his customers were hit with unexpected rate increases, the Salt Lake City workers’ comp specialist dug into the case files and found a common root cause. When workplace injuries occurred, the employer’s busy administrative staff would hastily notify the insurance carrier and consider their job done. With no one from the employer or broker involved, treatment was getting sidetracked and no one knew until the higher claims costs forced the insurer to deliver a big rate increase at renewal.
When industry sources told Hollingsworth this was a common problem, he developed COMPMinder, a technology platform designed to get the employer, broker and insurer working as a team right from the start to implement best practices for FROI.
The results so far have been impressive. After implementation of COMPMinder, a skilled nursing facility with 2,000 employees in Utah, Idaho, Nevada and California cut insurance premiums almost 25% over three years due to better claims experience. A large ski resort cut premiums in half over two years. In both cases, a large part of the improved claims experience can attributed to early intervention which likely would not have occurred prior to use of the software.
So how does the software work? When the employer learns of an injury, an administrator logs into COMPMinder to pull up the state-specific FROI form built into the system. The software prompts them to make sure that the accident scene is photographed, the accident cause documented, witnesses identified, first aid actions noted and other required information. When completed, the FROI is automatically filed with the insurer and immediate notification is emailed to a configurable list which generally includes a non-clerical member of the employer’s HR staff and the broker.
At 24 hours a more detailed reminder is sent to the administrator prompting them to contact the doctor’s office, the injured employee and company personnel to gather key information and coordinate return to work. Similar emails are sent at 72 hours and then weekly until the employee returns to work or the employer terminates the COMPMinder process. This automated system keeps everybody in the loop and insures that the employer, broker and carrier cover all their bases such as:
- Was a copy of the injury report secured ASAP?
- Who has contacted the physician and what did they say?
- Was a drug screen administered or narcotics prescribed.
- If applicable, was the physician notified that light duty or alternative arrangements are available?
- Has the employee returned to work? If not, why not?
- What are the employee and the doctor saying about their ability to return?
- Are there any red flags noted – Height & weight? Previous injuries? Comorbidities?
How does this work for employers? At the ski resort noted above, an employee was horsing around on his free time and had a serious accident. Because of the detailed questions prompted by the software, the employer determined that the injured worker’s accident had occurred on break and on a part of the slope where they were not supposed to be and denied the claim.
COMPMinder does what many good software solutions do – it uses technology to enforce disciplined application of best practices for critical processes. Take a look at your FROI process and see if an automated solution might help.
