The art of Workers' Compensation cost cutting is one of those specialized areas that may have been put on the “back burner". The new healthcare laws and other concerns have dominated the employer landscape over the last few years.
Workers' Compensation cost concerns seem to now focus on how to find the “bargain." Actually, the bargain that I see most of the time is the shopping of policies. That is one of many techniques that an employer can use to cut their bottom line.
In 1989, I first wrote the Three Keys To Workers' Compensation Cost Cutting. They were my bedrock for presentations where (gasp!) I used overhead slides. They are:
- Immediate Reporting of Injuries – no exceptions or excuses – immediately.
- Medical Treatment Network – spending time setting this up can make or break a WC program
- Return to Work Program – takes more time to accomplish – the savings are huge
- Employee Treatment – this one was added in the 1990's
- Adoption by Management – this one was added in 2005 – more on that one in a moment.
- Understanding your E-Mod sheets and premium audits
The main shortcoming I have seen by employers is actually #5. I am not saying that all employers do this whatsoever. Many employers do more than this list for their own type of business. Staying generic as possible is the best way for me to cover all 50 states in bullet points.
The Workers' Compensation cost cutting technique #5 if ranked by most important would be #1. Without an effort by the “big cheeses" to cut Workers Compensation costs, all prior and future efforts are in vain.
A client will bring me back in after a few months or years in some instances. The custom cost-cutting manual will sometimes still be on the shelf where I left it. If it is an electronic file, it shows the last time anyone accessed the file was the date I finished it previously.
