james murray - soft tissue centre - workers’ compensation managers’ priorities and improving...
DESCRIPTION
Dr James Murray, Managing Director, Soft Tissue Centre presented this at the National Workers' Compensation Summit 2014. The Summit focused on minimising workplace injury claims through establishing a successful safety culture and embrace working towards successful outcomes should a workers compensation claim arise. Find out more at http://www.informa.com.au/nwc14TRANSCRIPT
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Workers’ Compensation Managers’ priorities and
improving Return to Work outcomes
Dr James Murray
Managing Director
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Soft Tissue Centre
• 13 years treating workplace injury
• Only work onsite
• Soft tissue specialists
• 100% employed providers
• Average 3.1 treatments per injury
KEEPING PEOPLE
WORKING
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Agenda
• Workers’ compensation survey summary
– Full summary available after conference
• Five steps to better outcomes
GETTING THIS RIGHT WILL
SAVE THOUSANDS
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Survey summary
• Official conference survey
• 30 industry professionals
• Completed at conference
• How are we doing?
• Focus on issues/challenges/activities/progress
WHAT DO YOU
THINK?
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Challenges facing companies
• Ageing workforce - 34%
• Musculoskeletal – 28%
• Claims cost – 10%
AGEING WORKFORCE IS A LONG TERM
ISSUE
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Dilemma for ageing workforce
• MRI scans always show problems
– 50% of 50+ have a disc bulge on MRI
– 60% of 60+ have degenerative tear
in dominant shoulder on MRI
• Scan diagnosis may not be true source of issue
• Surgery often seen as only solution
USE SCANS STRATEGICALLY
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Barriers to successful outcomes
• Dr ‘”how long” /
• Unnecessary certificates
• Lack of operational support
• Providers unable to fix injuries
THE GP OFTEN HINDERS
SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Current health and wellbeing programs
• Ergonomic assessments – 22%
• Company sponsored activities – 17%
• Corporate Games, Global Corporate Challenge
• General health seminars – 13%
• None – 7%
ARE CURRENT PROGRAMS
MAKING REAL A DIFFERENCE?
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
2014 planned programs
• Wide variety
• Various training programs
– Physical and mental health
• Functional capacity assessments
• Improved triage process
SHOULD WE DO MORE?
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Five steps to better outcomes
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
1. Breakdown functional silos
• Operations are integral to RTW outcomes
• Everyone has to play their part
• Case study: large food processor
– Modified duties used to prevent claims
– All injuries into compensation process
– Worker’s Comp had no incentive to improve productivity
NO-ONE SHOULD OWN
INJURED WORKERS
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
2. Productivity vs Compensation
• Stop pure Workers’ Comp focus
• Must think and act holistically
• You can manage people risk
• Budget for non-compensible injury
START TALKING
ABOUT PEOPLE NOT THE SYSTEM
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
3. Build RTW road humps
• Have frequent reviews
• 6 week interval maximum
• Change methods if not fixed
• Use ‘words that heal’
USE SCANS STRATEGICALLY
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
4. Objective measurement
• Use more than just premium and LTIs
• On-costs, absenteeism, modified duties
• Total injury costs not hourly rates
• Relate them to company revenue
– E.g. sales required to fund injury
• Educate executive team on stats to track
GOOD STATS WILL DELIVER INCREASED FUNDING
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
5. What is a good outcome?
• Claims only from:
– Company initiation
– Accidents/hospitalisation
• Otherwise:
• Zero claims
• Zero surgeries
ACHIEVE WHAT THE BEST
BUSINESSES ACHIEVE
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Special conference offer
• Free independent assessment of 3 employees
• E.g. Claimants, new injuries, workers returning
• Includes privacy/compliance documentation
• This is an exclusive offer for companies employing more than 90 people in a single location. This offer relates to a private assessment to help the company and the employee move forward. It is not designed to be a formal part of a Workers' Compensation process and is made independently from Informa and the Workers' Compensation Summit.
GOOD STATS WILL DELIVER INCREASED FUNDING
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Summary
• No-one should ‘own’ injured workers
• Need whole picture thinking
• Start the productivity discussion
• Injury prevention not claims managing
GETTING IT RIGHT KEEPS
PEOPLE WORKING
www.softtissuecentre.com.auwww.softtissuecentre.com.au
Thank you
Contact information
T. 1300 734 643