A better workers' comp system: The silver lining of COVID-19?

With the COVID-19 crisis, more injured workers are using video chats to meet with health care providers. (Photo: Shutterstock)

COVID-19 is changing the way we live and will, no doubt, impact the future. This is a dark time, for sure, as we watch in real-time the virus spreading across the nation and the globe. Our smartphones ping with new statistics about the number of people infected and the death toll. The constant news cycle reminds us of the side effects of this pandemic, from the plunging economy to shrinking savings and retirement accounts. Many of us sit at home, working or not, coping with the unnatural and stressful conditions of “social distancing” and “shelter-at-home.”

Imagine what this means for an injured worker on workers’ compensation (WC), who is already coping with the stress of navigating a complex health care system. Add to this the uncertainty about their own risk of infection with COVID-19 and its consequences. It is too early to understand the full impact of the current pandemic on the WC system. But it seems likely that the crisis has the potential to negatively impact both the timeline for injured employees to return to work and the overall WC experience.