For the past few years, workers' compensation has experienced a general decline in claims frequency. The bad news is that frequency may soon flatten out and could begin to rise. This shift may significantly exacerbate the challenges claims professionals already face in workers' compensation. For example, although it is understood that prompt reporting of injuries leads to improved claims outcomes, there are still many barriers to achieving this best practice.

Medical costs continue to rise at double-digit rates, and as a result, now comprise approximately 60 percent of the average claim. Indemnity costs are also problematic. Even though organizations have spent considerable time and resources to facilitate return-to-work (RTW) programs, these initiatives have failed to yield optimal outcomes. Within this current state of flux, many organizations are looking to implement innovative strategies to overcome traditional hurdles, but what is new in workers' compensation?    

What is Injury Triage?
Recently, a new trend has emerged, wherein employers are turning to nurse call centers to perform injury intake, thereby enabling timely, accurate reporting, while also triaging injuries to the most appropriate level of care. Triage is the process during which medical professionals assess and assign a degree of urgency to a wound or illness. Triage has predominantly been used in the ER to determine the order in which patients should be treated, especially when there is a limited number of medical staff available. Today, a telephonic form of the process has evolved, leading to the growing popularity of nurse call centers.