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‘Bold’ Business
Safety and Reducing Workers’ Comp Costs
With a business climate that presents new and changing challenges to
safety and health programs and those who implement them, workplace
safety is now about more than reducing injury and illness. It’s also
about reducing the cost of keeping workers and the public healthy
and safe.
The National Safety Council will hold its 94th Annual Congress &
Expo in San Diego this month with a theme of “The Business of
Safety: Brave, Bold, Brilliant,” to address corporate safety and
health vulnerabilities and provide the tools safety and health
professionals need to meet and exceed evolving professional demands.
According to NSC President and CEO, Alan C. McMillan, workplace
safety is no longer just about reducing injuries and accidents. In
an era of escalating health care costs, shifting workplace
demographics and the ever present risk of catastrophe or industrial
accident, companies are recognizing the importance of a corporate
culture of safety.
“Corporate safety and health programs are critical to saving lives
and saving businesses,” McMillan said. “The response from those of
us in the business of safety must be brave, bold, and brilliant.”
This year’s Congress & Expo is designed to raise the visibility of a
number of “hot topics,” ranging from a changing workforce to
off-the-job safety. NSC will introduce its Off-the-Job Safety
Keynote, focused on safety and health strategies to reduce injuries
away from work that, today, cost businesses $200 billion a year,
nearly two-thirds of all injury related costs.
To address the safety and health issues associated with the fastest
growing segment of the American workforce, Hispanic and Latino
workers, who account for nearly one-sixth of all unintentional
fatalities in the workplace, the Council is launching its first
Hispanic Safety + Health Congress. Sessions will be presented in
Spanish and simultaneously interpreted into English.
A number of other “hot topic” sessions have also been added,
including lessons learned from the Texas City explosion that killed
15 workers in March, 2005; emergency and disaster preparedness; and
the changing workforce.
Managers looking to reduce the cost of workplace safety and health,
might also want to review a recent study by the American College of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), which reports that
management of injured workers by a specialized network of health
care providers can reduce missed work days and lower health care
costs.
Led by Dr. Edward J. Bernacki of Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine, Baltimore, the researchers looked at how management by a
specialized network affected the care and outcomes of Louisiana
workers’ compensation claims.
The network health care providers were free to make diagnostic and
treatment decisions without oversight, by the state workers’
compensation insurance company. The outcomes of 176 cases managed in
the network were compared with 1,464 cases managed in the
traditional way, including utilization review.
The claims were reviewed a median of two years after injury, by
which time over 90 percent of cases were closed.
Claims managed by Omnet Gold were associated with significantly less
missed work time than cases managed in the traditional way. Average
number of missed work days was 53 for workers managed in the
network, compared to 99 days for traditionally managed claims.
The costs of care were also lower for claims managed in the network:
about $12,500, compared with $20,400 for traditional claims. Average
costs for medical care were $3,995 with Omnet Gold versus $9,850 for
traditional care. Other costs, such as management fees and legal
expenses, were also lower with Omnet Gold.
“Utilization review seems to have little impact on the behavior of
experienced healthcare providers pre-selected for their ability to
appropriately treat and manage workers’ compensation cases,”
concluded the study’s authors. “With their experience and expertise
in treating injured workers, occupational medicine physicians appear
to be able to reduce patient disability, using fewer medical
resources, without insurance company oversight.”
Sounds like a “brave, bold and brilliant” approach to reducing
injuries and the costs that result from them.
Thanks and good luck
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