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Workers, Employers Give High Marks to Managed Care Program"
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Workers' compensation is working in Ohio -- at least that's what Buckeye State companies and workers said as part of a just-released customer service index. The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation received a 93% in its most recent index -- the highest score ever given to BWC by its customers -- according to the 2004 Health Partnership Program Progress Report. The survey, which includes telephone data and complaint statistics and surveys from both injured workers and employers, compiles a comprehensive measure of bureau policy and processes, James Conrad, BWC administrator and chief executive officer, touted the news as a huge success for Ohio's workers' compensation system. "This report serves as evidence that HPP is working for Ohio businesses and their workers," he said. "The bureau and its business partners have successfully built a managed care model that provides a high quality of care and treatment for its injured workers at a reduced cost to the state's employers."The report is printed on a bi-annual basis to measure critical benchmarks within the managed care model and to ensure the quality of service continues to improve, Conrad explained. The report showed improvements in areas such as claim filing lag time, which measures the time between the date of injury and the date the claim is filed with BWC, and determination time, or the time it takes BWC to investigate the claim and decide whether to allow or deny the claim. Both benchmarks are critical in helping injured workers, said Joel Donchess, chief of injury management at the bureau."The sooner a claim is filed and BWC makes a decision on the merits of the claim, the quicker we can work with the managed care organization and get injured workers treated and back to work," Donchess said. "This not only keeps an injury from potentially becoming more serious, but it also helps to keep costs down for employers as well."Since 1995, lag time has been reduced by more than 69%, and 81% of all claims are filed within 14 days of the date of injury, Donchess said. In addition, he said 71% of claims are determined in less than two weeks from the filing date. Ten years ago, less than 1% of claims were decided within the same window of time, he added.The report also showed consistent progress in returning injured workers to work promptly after an injury. Nearly 87% of all workers miss seven or fewer days as a result of a workplace accident, the report stated. A focus on loss prevention programs also has helped reduce the number of workplace injuries from 275,000 in 1995 to slightly more than 190,000 in 2003, the report found.While progress has been made, Conrad said there's still room for improvement. "Until each working Ohioan is able to return home safely to their family, friends and way of life at the end of a workday, we have not met our goal of zero workplace accidents," he said.Created in 1997, the Health Partnership Program serves as the workers' compensation managed care model and forges a partnership among the BWC, managed care organizations, providers, employers and workers, Conrad noted. The program was implemented to improve the quality and efficiency with which treatment is provided to injured workers while simultaneously seeking to keep costs low for employers, he said. Visit the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation: www.ohiobwc.com "