Business Insurance: Creams cut pain, but price is the rub
Topical creams are becoming part of the mix of pain treatment options as doctors look for alternatives to addictive opioids.
Topical creams are becoming part of the mix of pain treatment options as doctors look for alternatives to addictive opioids.
By Bruce Shutan, The Self Insurer
Pandemic anxiety, depression and isolation gives us a taste of what employees face in overcoming a work injury
The workers’ compensation and auto casualty industries today are still in most cases, bogged down by paper. While it can be challenging to transition a claims operation to digital, removing paper from the claims process can provide many benefits, including improving data quality, efficiencies and effectiveness, and can help payors comply with current state regulations and adapt to future regulations. One highly effective and relatively simple method to move toward a paperless approach is implementing an electronic payment system to create a medical claims workflow where payment, fulfillment, remittance and filings can help carriers eliminate paper checks and the administrative processes and costs that come with them.
Payers and the companies they represent are eager to get injured workers back on their feet and back on the job. Many of these companies represent the heavyweights of corporate America. Major employers like manufacturers, large retailers, and airlines rely on comprehensive return-to-work programs to help their injured employees recover. The best programs do far more than safeguard the bottom line. They focus on truly addressing the needs of injured workers themselves. That’s because the longer workers are away, the less likely it is they will return to the workplace. The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board has broken down some statistics, and reports that there is only a 50 percent chance that an injured employee will return to work after a six-month absence. That drops to a 25 percent chance following a one-year absence. After two years away, the likelihood a worker will return plunges to a 1 percent chance.
‘Inside Workers' Comp' receives top honor from major communications award program
Oklahoma updated definitions that would prohibit reimbursement for medical marijuana under the Oklahoma fee schedule rule.