A strong return-to work program that gets employees back to work after an injury or illness quickly and safely aids in employee recovery, productivity, morale — and your organization’s bottom line.

Paper-based forms or overly complicated return-to-work programs make it difficult to track what’s happening or know what is reasonable for treatment and recovery time. Any lag in response time also sends a message that the organization doesn’t care about the ill or injured employee – which can end up impacting the whole team. And employees who don’t feel like their injury is being taken seriously are more likely to seek legal counsel.

Five Ways Software Improves Your Return-to-Work Program

The key to a successful return-to-work program is speed – respond quickly and resolve quickly. Today’s technology can streamline your process to get employees back to work as fast as possible to whatever job capacity makes the most sense. Here’s how:

  1. Centralize data. Software can bring all necessary information – including claims, policies, correspondence, and other important documentation – together in one place to serve as one source of truth for all stakeholders. Software also can protect employee privacy by showing stakeholders only relevant information, not necessarily the entire claim record.
  2. Standardize protocols. Software can automatically incorporate data from Official Disability Guidelines and other best-practice standards to make sure the employee is following a prescribed, evidence-based course of treatment. This ensures that every employee gets the highest quality treatment right from the start.
  3. Communicate easily. With all relevant information in one place, adjusters, medical case managers, risk managers, HR representatives, safety personnel, and other stakeholders can easily collaborate on the best way to get an employee back to work. The team can work together to identify opportunities early in the process to modify an employee’s work environment, schedule, or duties. Seamless collaboration also helps minimize the chances that the employee inadvertently receives conflicting information.
  4. Boost employee satisfaction. A quick and coordinated response to an illness or injury builds trust and loyalty among employees. It sends a message that you care about the injured employee and his or her well-being. This demonstration of support can be comforting to the employee who was injured – as well as to that employee’s entire team.
  5. Flag potential problem claims. Software can analyze patterns, anomalies, and key indicators to identify high-severity claims that would benefit from early intervention. You then can allocate necessary resources and attention from the start, which can both shorten recovery time and save money in the long run.

Employees who can’t work because of injury or illness are a drain on productivity and morale. And the longer an employee stays out, the more expensive it is. Software that streamlines and standardizes your return-to-work program can help you get injured employees back to work as quickly and safely as possible. And that leads to better outcomes for everyone.

For more on this streamlining your return-to-work program, download our ebook, Claim Success: How to Achieve Excellence in Claims Management, and check out Riskonnect’s Claims Administration software.