How Technology Can Upgrade a Return-to-Work Program

Analytics, early intervention and outsourcing helped Jacksonville, Fla., turn around its workers' comp and disability management program.

By JARED SHELLY, senior editor/web editor of Risk & Insurance®

_{Mitchell Perin,
finance manager for the City of Jacksonville, offers a few more thoughts on turning a return-to-work program
around.}

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The role of analytics and data mining can't be underestimated, Perin said. There will always be paper in one form or another, this is true, but the question is one of minimizing the amount of paper. The more paper-intensive a process, the more vital information becomes difficult to get.

The conversion to an electronic format that lends itself to a paperless process allowing invisible data that can be made visible by using business intelligence, analytics and data mining, is thus desirable and available. Surviving in the world of tomorrow requires more than a report writer on identified data elements with fix fields capturing information, he said.

Perin also said that early intervention guidelines about when to refer claimants to a specialist are important. The nature and condition of each claimant with regards to the injury will determine the most appropriate and best level of care necessary to return the claimant back to work given the nature and condition of the injury, he said. The main purpose of these guidelines is to provide the most appropriate and best level of care as soon as possible.

Technology, of course, gives the claims adjuster more time to do his or her job, and the chance to better manage and administer the claim. At the same time, the information technology department, at least as far as the City of Jacksonville is concerned, can't be all things to all users.

Information technology experts must their core business and only support what they are funded for. Therefore, the ability to support a function such as a claim system in-house is not necessarily the most prudent use of resources.

Perin made a case to the information technology department that his department would be better served if it were allowed to be host by the city's claims vendor. Support of the user interface is part of the information technology departments' core business model function, and will be supported by them.

November 1, 2011

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