Last month, GB sponsored the 19th annual National Workers’ Compensation Summit where Ben Sheat, GB’s General Manager of self insurance, presented on ‘Self Insurance: planning for success’.

We’ve summarised the three main points Ben spoke on below, for anyone that was unable to attend the Workers’ Compensation Summit

Fail to plan, plan to fail

Our industry is seeing change at an unprecedented rate. We are witnessing a new technological revolution with the promise of AI, predictive and prescriptive analytics driving decision making and automation driving process work, which will lead to, according to some sources, up to 70% straight through processing.

For us at GB where this environment is our lifeblood, to keep up with this change requires a huge commitment to planning and change management. Even then, the challenge to keep up is significant.

For businesses that manage their own risk, we have to question the availability of resources to keep up with this change. The challenge is, if you get left behind, will you be able to afford to continue as you are now?

This is why partnerships can be extremely beneficial to self insurers – you can access technology, thought leadership and strategy.

We strongly believe planning is key - a strong plan is an investment in a body of work that will ensure you are across the rate of change and are well placed to succeed in a changing environment. We believe a well thought out and well executed plan will show the wider business that the self insurance program is an important strategic output that not only supports the business goals but is also striving for excellence and cost effectiveness.

You can down load our self insurance business plan template below.

Adaptability and depth of resources

The face of workplace injury, irrespective of industry, is changing. It is no longer musculoskeletal sprains and strains that require some short-term treatment and back to work. There is a mental health overlay that is here to stay.

As such, we need to be adaptable to the service we deliver to injured workers. At GB, we have invested in mental injury specialists who are involved across our business, ensuring our models and practices managing claims are continually improving and are supported by a evidence.

The application of behavioural economics has become the new normal to case management. No longer are we simply having transactional discussions, we are now operating on a level where we are motivating our injured workers and gaining their commitments to activities.

The way our frontline staff need to adapt to the challenges of case management, with no single person having the complete toolkit to manage all claims perfectly, means our scale gives us the ability to adapt according to risks.

Tapping into this is a clear advantage to our partners, as our partnerships provide more than the sum of their parts. We take our clients’ inherent knowledge of their business and culture and apply our technology, scale and skillsets to deliver superior outcomes.

The future of our profession

Our profession is evolving. The ends of the traditional ‘end to end’ model employed in self insurance are extending in both directions. Claims management is no longer the transactional approach of receiving claims, managing claims and finalising claims.

Prevention is a huge part of this and is especially relevant for self insurers. The best way to manage a claim is not to have one. This means having appropriate recruitment strategies, pre-employment assessments and wellness/wellbeing programs in place that support the business.

At the other end, our job is not just about returning people to employment, but to their lives. An injured father may be happy about being able to return to work; however, how long will that motivation last if they cannot pick up their child or return to their passions outside of the workplace?

If we are going to see 70% straight through processing and a significant reduction in claims volumes through prevention and early intervention, there will be a far higher ratio of complex claims to manage. The modern claims management toolkit supplies the case manager with the confidence to manage these difficult claims effectively.

Self Insurers have to have several layers of defence to ensure that claims events do not cripple the business. Two key examples of this are excess of Loss insurance, which limits the loss on any given claim to a certain amount, and the bank guarantee, which is a secured hold of cash equal to the outstanding liabilities at a given point in time (revised regularly). .

There are many cautionary tales regarding the self insurance ‘Honeymoon’ effect of the first few years of a licence, where the liabilities are minimal as the claims experience is still ramping up, then blowing out once matured (often the 3-5 year mark).

The advent of the surety/insurance bond is the potential game changer. These are insurance premiums paid in place of bank guarantees and are unsecured – the cash does not have to be tied up. They are currently accepted by the regulators in QLD and SA and we are excited to see this change to our industry over time.

We are excited to see the movement in this space but would strongly recommend that any business case to put a bond in place be tabled alongside a well articulated tail claims cohort management plan to protect this risk.

The summit, which was held in Sydney on 20-21 February, united executives and practitioners from a range of backgrounds including insurance carriers, government, health and medical services, finance, manufacturers, construction, transport, academia and business services.

With perspectives from Federal and State Government, the Summit analysed key topics such as:

• The impact of regulatory and legislative changes
• Implementation of successful RTW and Injury Management frameworks
• The benefits in the use of technology
• Best practice methods for injury prevention and creating safer working environments
• Creating a fairer and more efficient system.

Partnering with a self insurance specialist like GB means that you can be sure that you will be able to realise the financial benefits available. If you would like to know more, get in touch with GB today.