Work injuries happen and could sideline an employee for a long time. From production jobs to construction and manufacturing, injuries can happen to any person in any industry. From unstable scaffolding, to cracked boards and wet floors, working can be dangerous.
Every year in California, hundreds of workers are injured on the job each year. In 2017, there were 466 on-the-job nonfatal injuries, and those were the recorded cases. For years, the process of injury workers’ comp claim has been painfully slow, sometimes several days will have passed before a treatment is either accepted or sent for additional review.
Times have changed, and technology has evolved for workers’ compensation providers in California. This summer, waiting around for an answer on patient authorization via fax will begin to fade away as real-time, digital and paperless authorizations will be tested. The program will only initially be tested by one company, State Fund, the second largest insurer of workers’ comp claims in California. If the new program, UR Connected runs smoothly, doctors will receive the answer if a treatment is a go or must be sent for additional review right away. Dinesh Govindardo, chief medical officer for the State Compensation Insurance Fund, hopes other workers compensation insurers will want to adopt it.
State Fund covers 11% of California workers tied to 103,000 clients. As of June, they have 85,000 open claims. Govinardo, speaking to the Sacramento Bee, said he think 70% to 80% of insurers will adopt the program down the road.
