With over 20 years experience in building partnerships between healthcare providers and local businesses, I've seen a wide variety of less-than-optimal decisions. Business owners and their HR/ safety teams are being pulled in many directions these days. It was that way before COVID-19, but even more so now. As healthcare providers servicing these businesses, we need to make their lives easier, not more complicated. For those on the business side of this equation, consider your relationship with your healthcare partners on your workers compensation panel. How can you improve the partnership to work WITH YOU, not against you?
Here is a list of ways they should be helping you stay healthy, productive, and ultimately, in business for a long time.
- Communication. It's the most important item and that's why I made it number one. They should be providing status updates, notes, and reports on your employees. They should be meeting you in person on a regular basis, preferably on-site at your location so they can know your business better. Have you ever met your panel panel provider?
- Know your business. A workers compensation provider should spend time at your location. They should learn your processes, understand the job demands, and implement this knowledge in their treatment of your employees. Providers can't do this remotely from behind their desk. Has your panel provider ever stepped foot inside your building?
- Attentive to your needs. This a culmination of numbers 1 and 2. Once they know your business, they'll know your needs. If they are communicating effectively, they should be meeting the healthcare and safety needs of your employees. Their business practices should be customized to match your business practices. Are your panel providers trying to fit YOU inside THEIR box?
- Experience. Workers compensation is a completely different animal. Anyone who works regularly in that arena knows it. There are a multitude of factors that go into effective treatment, but the complexity increases when the injury occurs at work. Healthcare providers cannot treat your injured employee the same as the private patient who walks off the street seeking care. They must consider things such as where they work, what job they perform, workload, job satisfaction, and other psycho-social factors. Does your panel provider specialize in workers compensation?
- Costs. A business can only provide jobs to the community if they remain in business. That comes down to costs and remaining profitable. Healthcare is a major cost for a business. Your panel providers must keep those costs in mind by offering solutions to reduce your direct medical expenses and the indirect costs associated with a claim, such as lost time and lower productivity. Is your panel provider offering you proactive solutions to reduce your risk of injury or simply treating your employees afterwards?
I hope these five points provoke some thought for you today and start a conversation with your staff. Take a look at your panel of providers and ask yourself: are they actively partnering with us or are they complicating the problem by their passivity or lack of creativity?
If you're not sure where to begin, you can reach out to me anytime and I'll help assess your needs.
