ust managing non-occupational disabilities was a big deal six or seven years
ago. But to combine that effort with occupational disabilities, now that was a
novelty.
Since then, virtually every benefit-integration practice that employers have
introduced has brought a high level of satisfaction, says William P. Molmen,
general counsel for the Integrated Benefits Institute. To catalog those
practices, IBI released "A Survey of Integrated Benefits Best Practices" in
January. The report represents 103 employers with an average of 8,700 employees.
About 77 percent of employers integrated benefits to manage employee
disability. They did this by combining workers’ compensation, short-term
disability, and long-term disability so each area is managed in the same manner,
whether or not the disability is work-related. Family Medical and Leave Act
administration is almost always part of integrated disability management. About
half of these IDM programs integrate or coordinate group health with disability
programs. This often means managing the treatment needed to shorten disability.
Three top practices
The most effective integration strategies are return-to-work, integrated case
management, and common claims intake. Some of the most common practices are
among the least used, the report said. These include same-performance outcome
measures, ICD-9 medical diagnosis codes for occupational and non-occupational
medical records, interactive voice response for disability reporting, and help
for injured employees obtaining Social Security disability benefits.
Other effective but costlier practices include empowering one corporate unit
to make all purchasing decisions, linking the company’s integrated claims data
system to the human resources or payroll data system, and using a single
insurance broker or consultant to integrate the programs.
Lessons learned
If they could do it again, the employers said, they would approach some
aspects of benefit integration differently. About half would first enlist senior
management support. "Our case studies show that it’s always easier to sell
the integrated program to supervisors when there is ongoing senior management
support," Molmen says.
Major corporate reorganization is not necessary to implement integration, the
survey found. Most employers began incrementally by consolidating and
integrating claim management--such as single claims intake or a transitional
return-to-work program regardless of injury cause. Some employers also said they
would have created database resources for planning and monitoring integrated
programs. Others would have spent more time and resources on employee training.
Workforce, December 2002, pp. 50 -- Subscribe Now!
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