return to work News

Viewpoint: Returning to Work After COVID, Long-Haul Cases, Vaccine Mandates

Remember when we thought COVID would die down last summer, once vaccines became more widely available? Instead, we find ourselves still in the throes of the pandemic, managing the return to the workplace, vaccine mandates, long-haul COVID cases, and presumption …

NCCI Report Warns of ‘Alarming and Sobering’ Impact from Long-Haul COVID

About 10% of people who contracted COVID-19 continue to suffer persistent symptoms months later, creating the potential for millions of people to suffer functional impairment for extended lengths of time, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Council …

U.S. Automakers Stressing Covid Safety at Work and Home as Plants Rev Up

Automakers are speeding up U.S. assembly lines to meet recovering demand, increasingly confident coronavirus safety protocols are working to prevent outbreaks in their plants but wary of the challenges workers face outside. Screening workers for COVID-19 using temperature scans and …

Pa. Gov. Cites Denied Insurance Claims as Reason Not to Defy Shut-Down Orders

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The administration of Gov. Tom Wolf issued a warning Monday to businesses that choose to open in defiance of the pandemic shutdown, saying they could be jeopardizing their insurance coverage. With several counties in open rebellion against …

Analysis: Recession, Fear of Job Loss, and Return to Work

With the COVID-19 virus causing economic disruption, The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute would like to share the findings from a study we published in 2010 that sheds light on how a typical recession affects the return to work of injured …

Research Finds No Improvement in Worker Outcomes When Medical Prices Increase

When the price of physician services increases relative to group health rates, injured workers report fewer problems getting the care they want but no significant improvement in physical function or speedier return to work, according to a study released Thursday …

Striving for Quality IMEs

A good independent medical examination (IME) can assist in determining injury causation and disability rating, assist in formulating a treatment protocol and gauge return to work parameters. A recent white paper, “The Quality Divide: Are You a Leader or a …

Easing the ‘Return-to-Work’ Process for Injured Workers

In 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 2.9 million non-fatal workplace accidents occurred that year. Of this, over 50 percent of the injured workers experienced time lost from work. A number this large obviously eats into a …

IAIABC National Workers’ Comp Talks Highlight Stakeholder Unity in Addressing System Issues

Over the past couple of years, workers’ compensation has received what some would call unfair criticism over its alleged focus on expense reduction at the cost of injured worker outcomes. In response, the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards (IAIABC) …

Study Finds Nurse Case Managers Add Value to Workers’ Comp Claims

A new white paper demonstrates the value nurse case management adds to workers’ compensation claims resolution. Using injury data, patient characteristics, diagnosis, medical treatment and claimant behavior characteristics to evaluate 42,000 claims, Helmsman Management Services, a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual …