How is Return to Work expedited? MyAbilities recognized that the Return to Work (RTW) process for many employers and their claims managers has not fundamentally changed in decades. MyAbilities developed a new process to help expedite RTW over the last 3 years. The goals are to get employees back to work faster and to reduce the administrative burden and remove road blocks for the RTW specialist.
JobX Digital Job Profiles for Return to Work
At the heart of the process is the JobX Digital Job Profile (DJP). To learn more about its broader uses, refer to my earlier article here. Suffice it to say that clearly and quickly identifying the demands of the job is the fundamental first step in making a determination on the ability of the person to return to work.
In early pilots, using the JobX DJP database of over 50,000 job titles, we have seen a reduction in time required to get an approved Job Profile. The result? The average reduced from 22 business days down to 9. An employer approved one DJP in less than 30 minutes!
Return to work expedited with just one step!
Determine Causation, Occ vs Non-Occ
The next step provides claims managers with an objective tool to determine compensability. A detailed questionnaire based on the specific injury guides the user through a process that assigns a score to occupational and non-occupational factors. The claims handler makes a defensible decision. Is the claim covered by workers compensation or disability insurance?
Psychosocial factors in Return to Work
There are standard guidelines for treatment and recovery times. However, the recovery time has wide variability that cannot be explained by the physical injury alone.
To help understand if there are psychosocial factors that may complicate the recovery process, MyAbilities has a psychosocial questionnaire built in.
Users identify higher risk cases based on their score. The claims manager can then address these cases with the healthcare team to the benefit of both the employee and the employer.
(Read more about psychosocial impacts here)
The power of digital = Job Matching
In the last step, the true value of having JobX Digital Job Profiles shows itself. The system generates a Functional Abilities questionnaire. The form can be quickly filled in online by clinicians and is based on the specific demands of the pre-injury job.
Once the form is completed, job matching can be done to the JobX DJP and any areas of limitation or restriction are flagged. If there are none, the employee is ready to return to work. If there are, can the employer modify the job to address those issues? Or if a database of other jobs has been created, is there another job at the employer that the person can return to?
Job-matching makes identification easy in a quick and easy to view interface. The goal is to get the injured worker back to work as quickly as possible. This could be to their pre-injury job, a modified duty job or another one in the employer’s database.
Summary
Leverage 21st century tools to expedite Return to Work. Online, big data and matching algorithms make MyAbilities a unique solution for a difficult process.
This powerful tool revolutionizes management of the return to work process. To learn more, visit myabilities.com/lifecycle or talk to one of our experts to see if this solution can work for you. Finally, for further reading, click here, or to learn more about MyAbilities, visit our website.
