In this podcast series, Mitchell | Genex subject matter experts from across the business share their expertise on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting—and will continue to influence—many different areas of the workers’ compensation claims process. Listen below to hear from Mitchell | Genex leaders across our Pharmacy, Casualty Solutions and Genex divisions discussing regulatory changes, the potential impact of delayed care, case management, pharmacy issues and more.
Dr. Mitch Freeman—Mitchell Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer
Dr. Mitch Freeman provides insights into how COVID-19 is impacting pharmacy care for injured workers. Throughout the pandemic, the pharmacy-related impact for the workers' compensation industry has so far been relatively low as pharmacies have remained open, but some medications have been relatively difficult to obtain. One area that has grown in relevance, according to Dr. Freeman, is medication mail order. “I think the best way that we can ensure that we are helping to keep patients safe,” he said, “is to identify patients that might be at risk and to reach out proactively and offer mail order as an alternative to going into a pharmacy and perhaps being exposed to the virus.”
Michele Hibbert-Iacobacci—Mitchell Senior Vice President of Regulatory Compliance Management
Michele Hibbert-Iacboacci shares information about the changes the workers’ compensation industry is seeing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic specifically related to regulatory updates, increased growth in telemedicine use and presumptions for front-line workers who may contract the virus. She also explains how legislative changes and delayed care for injured workers might leave a lasting impact on the industry. “From a legislative perspective, there is going to be a whole lot more activity on telehealth and telemedicine to make things more permanent,” she said. “A lot of the legislation we’re seeing is emergency and it has a timeline on it, 60-90 days. I believe a lot of that will become permanent. There will be a little bit more investigative work done into it to see if it is the right thing to do in the scope of practices for the providers. Did we do the right thing when we implemented those emergency regulations?”
Pat Chavanu—Genex Senior Vice President of National Accounts and Marketing
Pat Chavanu explores how COVID-19 is affecting access to care for injured employees and how case managers are using their critical thinking skills to facilitate recovery, leveraging telemedicine, educating injured employees on home exercise programs and continuing their services through other traditional and non-traditional methods. This includes limiting potential for delayed return-to-work and helping injured employees navigate their care plans. “Because of the shelter-in policies in many states, some injured workers have either opted to delay treatment or can’t receive treatment due to provider availability,” he said. “Once the shelter-in restrictions have been lifted, I think you’re going to see pent up demand for treatment which could cause delays in provider scheduling, and this could extend claims and claims duration so it could be a problem. To combat this claims duration issue, the best approach is to utilize your clinical resources that are available. Especially in times like this, I feel like the case manager plays an extraordinarily important role in assisting the injured worker and navigating the healthcare system." Learn More