Get With the Program!
Save money with a new approach to managing disability benefits.
It seems so obvious: When an employee becomes disabled, the goal
should be to get him recovered and back to work as quickly as
possible. That reduces the economic and emotional impact on the
employee, and helps the company control costs and maintain
productivity. While that's not always how things happen, it can
be accomplished with Integrated Disability Management (IDM), which
is a "coordination of benefits delivery across traditional
programs," explains William Molmen, general counsel for the
Integrated Benefits
Institute (IBI), a nonprofit research and education
organization in San Francisco.
It's a holistic approach to disability management. Whether
the disability is caused by an on-the-job injury, an off-work
incident, an illness or some combination of circumstances, all the
employee's benefits are coordinated by a single source to
maximize care, minimize economic damages, get claims paid, and
return the worker to employment as soon as it's feasible.
Molmen says IDM usually includes workers' comp, short-term
disability and return-to-work programs and may also encompass
long-term disability, health insurance, medical treatment
coordination and Family Medical Leave Act administration.
Contact your insurance broker or agent, or visit IBI's
Marketplace section at www.ibiweb.org to see the companies that offer IDM
programs.
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Jacquelyn Lynn is a freelance business writer in Orlando,
Florida.