Making a better Ohio with health and wellness

By Erik Harden, BWC Public Information Officer

Improved health and wellness leads to a better quality of life in all aspects of our lives, including the workplace.

Living a healthy, balanced life can help prevent injury or help workers recover more quickly if they are hurt on the job. That’s why we’re launching Better You, Better Ohio!™ – a program designed to provide health and wellness resources and services to workers who work for small Ohio employers (50 or fewer workers) in high-risk industries*.

Better You, Better Ohio! takes the stress out of implementing or joining a workplace wellness program thanks to a simple, paperless sign-up process for workers and no costs for the employee or employer. The program offers:

• Health and wellness awareness, education and training;
• Health assessments and biometric screenings for better understanding of their health and well-being;
• A member engagement website that allows them to develop health plans and track their progress to achieve their goals;
• A state-of-the art mobile app for creating weekly action plans and getting health tips;
• Digital coaching to help them on their journey to better health.

Why we’re offering Better You, Better Ohio!

Ohio, like much of the nation, is facing major health challenges driven primarily by obesity, aging and the rise in chronic diseases (i.e. diabetes and cardiovascular diseases). As of 2017, Ohio’s health ranking stood at 39th among the 50 states. These health challenges and outcomes are mostly associated with lifestyle behaviors. Individuals can improve these behaviors by using the resources and support services health and wellness programs like Better You, Better Ohio! offer.

Want to know more?

Visit our Better You, Better Ohio! webpage for additional details.

*Agriculture; automotive repair and service; construction; firefighters; health care; manufacturing; police and public safety; public employers; restaurant and food service; transportation and trucking; trash collection; wholesale and retail

Sharing insights and achievements in workers’ comp

By Kendra DePaul, BWC Other States Coverage Manager

In workers’ comp, we sure do love our acronyms. One of my favorites is the IAIABC which states for the International Association of Industrial Accident Board and Commission.

The IAIABC is an association that brings together workers’ compensation administrators, regulators and leaders to discuss policy and regulatory issues affecting workers’ compensation systems around the world.

Workers’ compensation is a state-based system and although rules and laws vary between states, we also have a lot in common. IAIABC’s annual convention provided an opportunity for the various states (and countries) to discuss common challenges, solutions and ways to impact the system.

The conference was held in Portland, Oregon this year and it was my first year attending. The topics discussed were familiar to those in the industry, including disability management and return to work, employee vs. independent contractor classification, promotion of health and safety, and the like.

A common topic that often comes up at these meetings is employee recruiting and how we are going to replace the knowledge and experience of many talented workers’ comp staff who may be retiring soon. The focus is often on how jobs in the workers’ compensation field have many good things to offer: stability, career advancement, opportunities for growth, the ability to help people, and the need to recruit millennials.

Since I am a millennial, I will say that all those things ring true and I very much enjoy spending my days in the workers’ comp world. I was honored this year to be recognized by IAIABC as a NextGen recipient.

The award recognizes professionals under the age of 40 who are making an impact on workers’ compensation.

As part of the award, I participated in a session titled A Conversation with the NextGen where we shared our thoughts and insights on the industry.

I had a great time meeting the other NextGen recipients and discussing the future of workers’ comp.

Although we are from different states and work in many different roles, there are common themes of needing to improve communication, leverage data and move towards a customer-focused system. There was agreement that for a lot of people, having a workers’ compensation claim is a very personal and potentially life-altering situation and it is important to not lose the people in the process.

If you’re looking for a career path in an industry on the verge of making important improvements, look no further!

Striving for world class

By Bill Teets, BWC Communications Director

It is no secret that successful organizations have a strong sense of direction and purpose. At the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, we want to be a world class insurer.

We have a clear mission to “protect Ohio’s workers and employers through the prevention, care and management of workplace injuries and illnesses at fair rates.” Keep people safe. Make them better when they’re hurt. Do it effectively to not over-burden business. We also have a core set of values—service, simplicity and savings—that guide us.

While these are essential to being world class, they’re not enough. As communications director for BWC, I spend much of my time discovering all the great things happening here and sharing them with the outside world. There are so many stories to tell. Great investing has helped us return $3 billion in rebates over the last several years. Ohio’s injury rates are below the national average and our claims are at record lows. We’re finding ways to speed care to the injured and our nationally recognized pharmacy management program has drastically reduced opioid usage among injured workers.

What I’ve learned from telling these stories is that world class organizations have world class people. Our mission and values may guide us, but ultimately, it is the people that deliver on those promises. Several recent accolades prove my point.

Recently, our Chief of Enterprise Services, Shadya Yazback was named a C-Suite Award Winner by Columbus Business First. In their own words, “the C-Suite Awards recognizes Central Ohio’s top executives for their contribution and commitment to the community and their outstanding professional performance.”

This year’s 19 winners were selected by a panel of business school professors in Ohio. Among her achievements at BWC is the implementation of a multi-year, multi-million dollar replacement of our core claims and policy management systems—systems used by more than half our 1,800 employees to serve Ohio’s injured workers and employers. It was not always a smooth transition, but as the driver of the process she proved world-class people are able to adapt and keep an organization driving toward a common goal.

Kendra DePaul is another example of our world-class staff. Kendra has been named as one of 11 NexGen award winners by the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC). She achieved this accolade for leading Ohio’s effort to build our Other States Coverage and managing the program. Because of this program, Ohio employers who do business in other states have options that make life easier when it comes to covering their employees.

That same organization awarded our pharmacy department the second annual IAIABC Innovation Award. That entry, “Saving Lives — Building a Model Pharmacy Program Amid a Deadly Epidemic” reflects Ohio’s efforts to reduce opioid abuse and excessive prescribing of the painkillers while building a pharmacy program that’s recognized as a leader in the industry today. Because of the pharmacy department efforts, led by John Hanna, who just retired, we have reduced the number of injured workers dependent on opioids from 8,000 in 2011 to 4,100 today. You can point to policies, but it was John and his people who took the initiative to make this reality.

Three world-class accomplishments. Three world-class people. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. At BWC, we have 1,800 other dedicated individuals who work every day to help keep workplaces safe, get the injured back to their lives, and help reduce bureaucratic obstacles to their success. Not a bad place to work.

Opioid infographic illustrates BWC’s success, pharmacy leadership

Document’s release coincides with director’s retirement

By Nick Trego, Clinical Operations Manager, Pharmacy Department

Click on infographic  for larger image.

BWC’s communications department recently completed an infographic summarizing our work over the last six years to rein in excessive opioid prescriptions and the dangers they pose to injured workers, namely abuse, addiction and death.

Using a mix of colors, illustrations and statistics, the infographic is a roadmap of the steps we’ve taken to reduce the number of injured workers dependent on opioids from 8,029 in 2011 to 4,101 in 2016, a near 50 percent drop.

It’s called “Saving Lives — BWC battles the opioid crisis.” A better title might be, “Saving Lives — a tribute to John Hanna.”

Hanna, our pharmacy director, retires Sept. 29 after eight years in the job. More than anyone, it is John who is responsible for the achievements highlighted in the infographic, as well as for other pharmacy program reforms we’ve implemented to protect injured workers.  Along the way, with the backing of BWC leadership, he also built a pharmacy department that is a model in the work comp industry today.

When John arrived at BWC in 2009, we had no real pharmacy department to speak of. It was essentially a mix of disparate services shared by various personnel in service offices throughout the state. We had no formulary, no clinical review committees. Controls and best practices were low. Costs and drug utilization were high. For a system that experienced more than 100,000 new injured workers a year, we had to do better.

What followed over the next several years were a series of improvements to reduce inappropriate prescribing of opioids and other dangerous drugs. We created a Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee of six physicians and six pharmacists to provide recommendations on all medication-related policy. We created the first work-comp-specific closed formulary in the nation. We stopped coverage of any new opioid formulation until it was reviewed by our P&T Committee. And in 2016, we implemented a rule that requires providers to use a set of best practice guidelines when prescribing opioids. If they don’t follow those guidelines, they risk losing their BWC certification.

To further demonstrate our commitment, we offer injured workers who meet specific criteria up to 18 months of paid recovery services if the treatment for their workplace injury leads to an opioid addiction.

In other enhancements, we developed an automated program that flags claimants with high-risk medication regimens. We implemented “electronic edits” that require all drugs in medical-only claims to have a prior authorization to continue to be covered past 60 days. The same goes for workers who’ve had no claim activity for 270 days. We became the first state agency to cover naloxone products, as well as the first state agency to add Abuse Deterrent Formulations of opioids as a choice for prescribers. And earlier this year, our board of directors approved a rule restricting first prescriptions for opioids to seven days or 30 doses.

Our work has garnered local and national media attention, and work comp programs across the country are calling us, wanting to mirror our success. Topping it off, we wound up saving our agency money. That’s right, I said “saving.” For every dollar we spent on reforms, 50 came back to us in savings. All told, our department spends nearly $49.6 million less on medications today than we did in 2011.

Not that any of this was cost-driven. John always told us, “If we implement best clinical practices, the savings will follow.”

Earlier this year, Gov. Kasich recognized John for his efforts, awarding him the Governor’s Award for Employee Excellence. The industry has recognized his efforts, too. Just last month, the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions named John and our team winners of its 2017 Innovation Award.

None of this was easy, but John kept us focused on one guiding principal: “Do what’s best for the injured worker. That’s why we’re here.”

Thanks, John.

Click here for more on BWC’s efforts on the opioid front.

 

Motivation equals success

By Jim Landon, RN, and Mukesh Kumar Singh, CFE, LLM, MBA, BWC Compliance & Performance Management

In any workers’ compensation claim, motivation is always a key factor in not only the rehabilitation of the injured worker but for a successful return to work.

While this holds true in any industrial injury claim, it’s particularly true for catastrophic injuries that result in an amputation. When an injured worker suffers an amputation injury, not only are they faced with physical hurdles to overcome but also the challenge of regaining their self-esteem.

Obtainable goals, collaboration
Injured workers who suffer an amputation must learn to adapt both physically and mentally to return to a state of normalcy post-injury. Without motivation and obtainable goals, the injured worker will quite often ultimately fail. However, for an injured worker to be motivated it is crucial they have a strong support system. This system should consist of a positive collaboration between family members, the employer, providers, as well as BWC and the managed care organization (MCO) for ultimate success.

A key to this success is fitting the injured worker with the correct prosthesis as soon as he or she is medically stable to do so. The philosophy of this is well proven. There is only a limited window of opportunity in sustaining the motivation factor for the injured worker before frustration and poor self-esteem set in. If this does not occur, a successful return-to-work and the return to a normal life are unlikely.

The process of fitting the injured worker with the correct prosthesis follows a very simple logic. In choosing the proper device it need not be high tech or low tech, but the right tech.  The choice should be fitting a device that provides optimal function and gives the injured worker the best chance of not only returning to gainful employment but to a pre-injury quality of life.

Support + motivation = success
We must remember that behind every claim number is a person that is more than likely going through the worst period of their life, and they need collaborative support. Support provides motivation.  Motivation equals success.

We saw this recently when we participated with Ryan Nagy, an injured Middleburg Heights police officer, in the Wounded Heroes’ Trek of Hope. Together, we trekked the Annapurna circuit in Nepal.

Ryan’s successful return to work and a normal life following his above-the-knee amputation is a testament to teamwork along with BWC and finding ability in disability with a courageous attitude. His motivation, goal setting, collaboration and a strong support system at home and at work made the difference. Learn more about Ryan’s story by viewing this video.

Continuing the workers’ comp conversation

By Kendra DePaul, BWC Other States Coverage Manager

Oklahoma: home to Will Rogers, Route 66 and CompSource Mutual Insurance Company – host of the 2017 Annual Conference of the American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds (AASCIF). AASCIF is an association of workers’ compensation state funds from 26 different states, plus 8 workers’ compensation boards in Canada.

The conference was held in Oklahoma City in late June and hundreds of attendees gathered from around the country to discuss hot topics in the workers’ comp industry.

As was mentioned in a previous post, three BWC employees are members of AASCIF’s committees tasked with planning session topic and finding speakers for the annual conference. Michael Rienerth, Ergonomics Technical Advisor is on the Safety and Health Committee. Bill Teets, Communications Director is on the Communications Committee and I am on the Enterprise Risk Management and Underwriting Committee.

Along with planning sessions, committee members were also asked to share their knowledge and experience at track sessions at this year’s conference. Mike presented on violence in the workplace. Bill presented on crisis communication and the strategy of thought leadership. And I presented on state to state coverage conundrums.

Shadya Yazback, our Chief of Enterprise Services, also presented a session on preparing the business for large scale IT changes.

Additional sessions were held on the use of predictive analytics, the state of the economic, emerging technologies, telemedicine, and other topics affecting the industry as a whole.

Two of the main session speakers, Richard A. Clarke, Former National Security Advisor and Frank Abagnale, American Security Advisor (you may know him from the movie Catch Me If You Can), discussed the importance of safeguarding our personal information and the constant threat of cyber security.

We also heard the inspiring story of an Oklahoma City Bombing survivor and the friendship that developed with her rescuer. The story reinforced the amazing capacity of people to heal from wounds (both physical and metal) and the important role of the people who support them through their recovery.

In addition to the speakers, AASCIF holds an annual Communication Awards competition. I am happy to report that BWC won two awards this year. We received 2^nd place in the Excellence in the Writing category for the “Trek through Nepal” article. And we won 1^st place in the Print Marketing Piece category for a marketing piece we created for Other States Coverage. Working with the communications department, we targeted our marketing to a specific group of employers based on their size and the type of work they do. The marketing piece generated several inquires and we ended up issuing three policies, meaning we received a return on our investment.

As always, the conference was a whirlwind of activities. In addition to educational sessions, we spent time getting to know members of the other states workers’ comp funds, discussing ways to improve our operations and even having a little fun. Since we were in Oklahoma, we couldn’t close the trip without experiencing a rodeo and visiting the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Yee Haw!

BWC nurses help provide quality, holistic care for Ohio’s injured workers

By Mary Charney, BWC Director of Nursing

Nursing: The Balance of Mind, Body and Spirit. That’s the theme for National Nurses Week that runs this week until Friday, May 12. This year’s holistic theme also reflects BWC’s approach to caring for Ohio’s injured workers.

BWC’s 58 nurses work in a variety of areas, from medical policy and employee health to rehabilitation, claims management and clinical advisement.

They help Ohio’s injured workers and each of us remember to balance our lives — our mind, body and spirit — for total wellness.

National Nurses Week is a good time for all of us to appreciate nurses and thank them for what they do. Take time to remember the last time you talked with a nurse and how that nurse helped you. Nurses make a difference in our health care journey throughout life.

Nursing is the largest of all health care professions, according to the American Nurses Association (ANA), which declared 2017 to be the Year of the Healthy Nurse. Accordingly, the association is encouraging nurses to be healthy role models for the rest of us.

In its Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation™ Grand Challenge, the ANA states that “Nurses, at 3.6 million strong and the most trusted profession, have the power to make a difference! By choosing nutritious foods and an active lifestyle, managing stress, living tobacco-free, getting preventive immunizations and screenings, and choosing protective measures such as wearing sunscreen and bicycle helmets, nurses can set an example on how to BE healthy.”

For more information on National Nurses Week, visit the American Nursing Association’s National Nurses’ Week website. Again, thank you to our nurses!