8 Practical Tips for Effectively Managing Your Workers’ Compensation Claim

You can lower your work-related injury expenses by properly managing your workers’ comp claims. While you need to avoid being held liable for fraudulent claims, which can lead to higher premiums, rejecting workers’ comp claims without a solid basis can lead to costly and unnecessary litigation expenses. With that in mind, here are tips on how to ensure your workers’ compensation program is cost-effective.

1. Ensure Workplace Safety

   You can keep workers’ compensation insurance rates in check by ensuring the work environment in your business is safe. This means you should comply will all relevant regulations and OSHA requirements to limit the risk of workplace injuries and illnesses. You can also minimize the risk of work-related injuries by evaluating applicants before you assign them risky and physically-demanding work.

2. Respond Quickly Post Injury

   To have more control over the compensation costs, attend to workplace injuries and illnesses immediately. Your managers and supervisors should know that any delay in reporting claims can increase costs. To limit costly reporting delays, your safety team and supervisors should reach the accident scene as soon as possible, help the injured worker, and gather all the necessary information.

3. Document Facts Related to the Injury

   If an employee files a claim, you and the insurance adjuster should collaboratively review the case. You can identify fraudulent claims by evaluating the records that come with the claims. For instance, you should look out for extended claims that include body parts and injuries that were not directly impacted by the said workplace incident.

4. Watch out for Claims Fraud

   Come up with a protocol that’ll guide you when evaluating workers’ comp claims for fraud. Fraudulent claims include:

   • Exaggerated injuries
   • Reported incidences that didn’t result in injuries
   • Claims for illnesses and injuries that didn’t occur in the line of duty
5. Monitor Employee’s Recovery

   Your medical workers or manager should closely track the injured worker’s recovery throughout the claim duration. You should ascertain whether the employee is following the industrial doctor’s treatment plan. That’s essential because non-compliance may worsen your employee’s condition or delay recovery, increasing claim costs.

6. Limit Drug Costs

   You’ll pay more in workers’ compensation costs if an injured employee opts for unnecessary and costly treatment options, like expensive opioids. You should work with your insurance company to track the injured worker’s use of prescription drugs.

7. Have a Return-to-Work Plan in Place

   When an injured employee returns to work, they usually won’t be getting most of the compensation benefits anymore. You should, therefore, have a plan for ensuring your injured employees return to work on time. By helping the claimant come back to work, you can lessen the social isolation effects. You should consider how long the employee commutes, their relationship with workers, and other factors when helping your injured employee return to work.

8. Check Post-Claim Expenses

   Your injured employee may include MSAs (Medicare set-asides), which may be long-term expenses, in the compensation claim. You can manage such expenses by encouraging your injured employee to stop using unnecessary medication. During settlement negotiations, you can also minimize other ongoing claim expenses by negotiating with the claimant.

How McCarty Insurance Agency Can Help

You can minimize your workers’ comp claims and lower your work-related injury insurance expenses by following the above tips. Your workers’ comp insurance policy will protect your business and workers more efficiently if you properly manage workers’ compensation claims. For a cost-effective workers’ compensation policy that will adequately protect your business and your employees, contact McCarty Insurance Agency now.