A new early intervention illness and injury management system is challenging current incident reporting, response and management systems.
Research has found that 45 percent of employees in Australia are taking in excess of four weeks off work for minor injuries that should be resolved within five days. Taking average weekly salaries and average costs of claims, it’s estimated that employers are paying on average $18,965 more per injured employee than required.
A new early intervention illness and injury management system is challenging current incident reporting, response and management systems, as well as leadership capability and consistency, with respect to injury and illness management. Pioneered by health consulting firm, Injury Treatment, this framework for injury and illness management reduces lost time, claims durations and costs while boosting best practise leadership, clinical and rehabilitation interventions which are aligned with early and accurate diagnosis, appointment of best practise resources and an inherent focus on employee productivity, morale and return to work. According to Injury Treatment, the system results in significant improvements to organisations’ bottom line.
Injury Treatment’s early intervention model focuses on a systematic, fast paced and consistent approach to injury and illness notification and management, resulting in prompt identification of employees at risk of developing bio-psychosocial barriers and improved health outcomes for injured or ill employees as result of immediate clinical intervention and likewise an immediate focus on return to work.
Brooke Taylor, Injury Treatment’s founder and executive general manager, says that a key barrier many organisations face when implementing early intervention claims and injury management systems is lack of clarity in internal and external stakeholder responsibilities and quite often operational KPIs are linked to lost time only, rather than incorporating results around speed of reporting, intervention, claims durations and return to work.
“Our experience has shown that the earlier organisations identify and respond to injuries; the greater chance of an accurate diagnosis, correct treatment, focused workplace planning and faster return to work results for injured or ill employees. For companies to benefit from the model, a cultural shift may need to occur towards the promotion of rapid and open communication around health and safety reporting,” Brooke notes.
Injury Treatment developed and piloted its Early Intervention Program with a major Australian organisation employing over 30,000 employees. Brooke states that, as a result, the organisation experienced a 52.2 percent reduction in average claim costs, a 70 percent reduction in claims duration and 67.7 percent improvement in lost time, converting to an average total saving of approximately $400,000 annually.
