| |
By Bruce
Christian, Senior Communications/PR Specialist, SCF Arizona
 Helping
injured workers get back to their jobs as quickly as possible benefits
employers and employees, which is why SCF Arizona has launched
a redesigned return-to-work program.
SCF Arizona President & CEO Don Smith says that as the leading workers’ compensation
provider in Arizona, the company always looks for new ways to keep premiums as
low as possible for policyholders.
“Keeping costs down is getting more difficult, however, as medical
and healthcare
costs continue to rise rapidly,” Smith says, pointing out that since 1992,
medical costs have increased an average of more than10 percent each year.
“One proven way to keep costs down is to help injured workers return to
their
jobs as soon as medically possible, or to encourage them to accept temporary
or modified work until they can return to work,” he says.
Smith adds that getting injured workers back on the job – even in modified
or temporary work assignments –is the best thing for their well being,
while it helps to defray some of the costs the businesses would incur.
“Studies show that the longer an injured employee is away from the job,
the greater
the chance will be that he or she never will return,” Smith says.
“Companies
with effective return, modified or temporary work programs send a clear message
to employees that they are valued. This results in higher morale, as workers
tend to feel greater job security.”
The SCF “Return to Work/Stay at Work” program updates the company’s
previous “Return to Work Makes Sense” program. Company loss control
consultants will begin presenting seminars on how to implement and maintain the
plan at the Safety Works Symposium, Sept. 10 in Yuma, and at the Safety Works
Expo, Oct. 7-8, in Tucson.
Return to Work/Stay at Work seminars for policyholders also will be scheduled
throughout 2009, says Loss Control Manager Claudia Baker.
The Return to Work/Stay at Work program defines the responsibilities of the injured
workers, employers, healthcare providers and the insurance providers in the workers’ recovery
process, which leads to being able to return to work.
“This is a repackaged, revitalized program,” Baker says. “We
aren’t really reintroducing the program; we are giving it the focus it
needs. Return-to-work programs are proven and effective cost-containment tools.”
The proof is in the data, Baker says. More than 90 percent of the companies nationwide
that have implemented return-to-work programs report reductions in injury claims,
lost workdays and workers’ compensation costs.
“When an injured worker can return to work, even in a modified or temporary
assignment, he or she has an increased sense of worth and value, and that helps
the worker rehabilitate quicker,” Baker says.
Originally spearheading the effort to revise SCF’s program was SCF Premier
Insurance Company Loss Control Consultant Carl Hamilton. He says the revised
plan is proactive and focuses on early, systematic intervention.
The program stresses the need of good, regular and honest communications among
the injured worker, employer, healthcare provider and the workers’ compensation
provider’s adjusters.
|
