AMA Early Return To Work Saves Workers Comp Funds
I was attending a lunch conference on Workers Compensation Return to Work earlier this week. The presenter provided this statistic from the AMA (American Medical Association). The stat was based on the longer an injured employee is out of work, the less likely they will ever return to work.
The percentage of workers that return to work after being out of work for:
- Less than 8 weeks – 50%
- After 26 weeks – 18%
There was also a study performed in the 1980s and the 1990s that said an employee that is out of work more than six months will return to work only 50% of the time. I had performed a statistical analysis of the same type on a group of public sector files. The most startling statistic was that only a very small percentage of employees out of work for more than one year. I think the number was 7%.
Return to work is becoming more of a financial defense strategy for companies. Having a return to work program is very critical to reduce Workers Compensation costs. It is one of the easier methods to reduce Workers Comp payouts.
There are a few good methods to establishing and facilitating a Return to Work program. I will cover them in the next post along with the reasons for the low % of return to work after such a short time off work.
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