james murray - soft tissue centre - workers’ compensation managers’ priorities and improving...

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Workers’ Compensation Managers’ priorities and

improving Return to Work outcomes

Dr James Murray

Managing Director

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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

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Agenda

• Workers’ compensation survey summary

– Full summary available after conference

• Five steps to better outcomes

GETTING THIS RIGHT WILL

SAVE THOUSANDS

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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?

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Challenges facing companies

• Ageing workforce - 34%

• Musculoskeletal – 28%

• Claims cost – 10%

AGEING WORKFORCE IS A LONG TERM

ISSUE

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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

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Barriers to successful outcomes

• Dr ‘”how long” /

• Unnecessary certificates

• Lack of operational support

• Providers unable to fix injuries

THE GP OFTEN HINDERS

SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES

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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?

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2014 planned programs

• Wide variety

• Various training programs

– Physical and mental health

• Functional capacity assessments

• Improved triage process

SHOULD WE DO MORE?

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Five steps to better outcomes

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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

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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

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3. Build RTW road humps

• Have frequent reviews

• 6 week interval maximum

• Change methods if not fixed

• Use ‘words that heal’

USE SCANS STRATEGICALLY

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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

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5. What is a good outcome?

• Claims only from:

– Company initiation

– Accidents/hospitalisation

• Otherwise:

• Zero claims

• Zero surgeries

ACHIEVE WHAT THE BEST

BUSINESSES ACHIEVE

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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

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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

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Thank you

Contact information

T. 1300 734 643

E. J.murray@softtissuecentre.com.au