The Four Factors that are critical at the time of the initial Workers Comp claim are:

1. How was the employee treated by their employer at the time of the claim?


2. Did the employer have a medical network established to send the employee to for treatment? Was that employee sent to an established network medical provider?


3. How quickly was the Work Comp First Report of Injury filed with the insurance carrier or TPA?


4. Did the adjuster talk with the employee, employer and physician within 24 hours of receiving the first report of injury?

The clock is ticking when an employee reports an injury. I have studied Workers Compensation claim trends for over 20 years. If #1 - #4 above is not completed in 48 hours, the cost of Workers Comp claims jump tremendously.

If the answer to any one of the four above questions is No, your company will be trying to control much higher than normal claims costs and paying at least 1,600% more claims $.

Next Up - Payroll (Premium Audits) - the mother of all Workers Comp budget busters