Success Stories
Retail Industry | Transporation Industry | Hotel Industry | Public Agency | Manufacturing
The following success stories are intended to demonstrate the capacity that PreCare, Inc has to implement changes that will lower the incidence of injuries, case rate costs, worker compensation claims and improve employee satisfaction. In each of the following stories, a description of the employer's issues is provided. A detailed PreCare plan of action is then identified and subsequent outcomes resulted in significant savings is shared.
Retail Industry Success Story
Description:
PreCare provided services for an 11- site big box retail stores. Each store had an average of 250 employees. The employer's claim history showed that the majority of injuries were strain/sprains. On average there were two injured employees in each retail store.
PreCare Plan:
Each store received four hours per week of PreCare prevention services and onsite therapy for those injured employees with a physical therapy prescription.
Each store allocated a small, private space for the therapist to perform individualized treatments 6-9 hours per week. Body mechanics training and job coaching was performed in the actual work environment. These real-time work conditions allowed injured workers to perform job duties with the therapist's direction thus minimizing reinjury while returning to full duty.
Prevention services focused on reduction of these injuries and included:
- Early Intervention Screens
- Ergonomic Assessments for employees and departments
- New Employee Orientations
- Job Coaching
- Employee Education and Training classes
- Participation in manager meetings
- Department specific Work-n-Stretch
PreCare Results:
One year later each store manager completed a satisfaction survey 100% of the stores opted to continue with the program at their own expense. 50% of the stores requested additional injury prevention hours to expand their safety and health programs. In one year, the employer reported an overall claim cost reduction of 34%. In addition, indemnity claims were down 43% compared to other stores in the same state who were using other providers.
Transporation Industry Success Story
Description:
The transit/bus company has 600 bus operators working out of one central base. The employer's claim history showed that the majority of the injuries were sprains/strains, that the group of employees reporting the most claims were the operators and that the in the year prior to PreCare starting services, these strain/sprain claims cost the employer over $200,000.
The company receives six hours of PreCare prevention services a week and onsite therapy for those injured employees with a physical therapy prescription.
PreCare Plan:
The therapist is provided with a dedicated, private space to perform individualized treatments. Utilizing the work environment, the therapist performed job coaching and body mechanics training. This model allowed the injured workers to perform job duties under the therapist's direction and minimized re-injury rate while the worker returned to full duty.
Prevention services focused on reduction of sprains/strains and included:
- Early Intervention Screens
- Ergonomic Assessments for employees and departments
- New Employee Orientations
- Job Coaching
- Employee Education and Training Classes
- Participation in manager meetings
- Department Specific Work-n-Stretch Programs
- Department Specific Ergonomic Guideline Manuals
PreCare Results:
After six months of onsite prevention and treatment services, and other action initiated by the company, an analysis of the claims data was performed. January 1st, 2005 through June 30th, 2005 was compared to the same period in 2006. For the six month period in 2006, the company experienced a reduction of 41% in the number of claims filed. In 2005 between January 1st and June 30th, 61 claims were filed versus 36 in the same six month period of 2006. In 2005 the actual costs for the first six months of the year were $118,997 and the first six months of the year in 2006 they were $45,544.57. This is a 62% decrease in the actual cost of claims for the six month period in 2006.
Hotel Industry Success Story
Description:
PreCare initially provided onsite Physical Therapy treatment services for a hotel which has 838 guest rooms and ~ 500 employees (FT/PT/on call). The hotel found the onsite treatment services facilitated the employees' return to full duty quicker than when provided off-site at a local clinic. Due to the effectiveness of the onsite treatment services, the hotel pursued PreCare's prevention services with the goal of decreasing the frequency and severity of their worker's compensation claims.
PreCare Plan:
The hotel received onsite therapy for those injured employees with a physical therapy prescription and six hours per week of PreCare prevention services.
The hotel allocated a meeting room that could be reserved for the therapist to perform individualized physical therapy treatments for the injured employees. Treatment onsite allowed the therapist to correct body mechanics, teach techniques that minimize the effects of repetitive stresses and influence correction of the work environments. In addition, the employees attended more consistent rehabilitation due to convenience.
Initiating the prevention services was well organized and the schedule adjusted weekly depending on the hotel's needs. Each department was analyzed individually to focus on the specific job descriptions and duties. PreCare also accommodated all of the hotel's shifts to cover every employee.
Prevention services included:
- Early Intervention Screens
- Ergonomic Assessments for employees and departments
- New Employee Orientations
- Job Coaching including education and department specific stretches
- Participation in manager, department and safety meetings
PreCare Results:
The hotel uses OSHA calculations to track results. Frequency of claims (# of claims/# of hours worked*200,000) estimates the number of claims per 100 fulltime employees. PreCare's services resulted in a remarkable reduction. The injury frequency after PreCare's first year of service declined 24%.
The hotel calculates the claim severity rate by the average the cost of the workers' compensation claim. Again, PreCare benefited the hotel by significantly reducing the severity rate. After the first year of service the severity rating declined 60.0%.
Hotel management and employees are extremely pleased with the results and are planning for next year's focus on decreasing sprains and strains by implementing additional specialized PreCare prevention services.
Public Agency Success Story
Description:
PreCare provides services for a small public agency with 385 regular employees and 200-400 temporary or seasonal employees. The employer's claim history showed that the majority of injuries were strain/sprains and that approximately 50% of the injuries sustained resulted in indemnity claims. Further, the most costly and frequent injuries were associated with a specific task, in a specific work group.
PreCare Plan:
The agency receives six hours per week of PreCare prevention services and onsite therapy for those injured employees with a physical therapy prescription.
The employer allocates a small, private space for the therapist to perform individualized treatments. Body mechanics training and job coaching is performed in the actual work environment. These real-time work conditions allowed injured workers to perform job duties with the therapist's direction thus minimizing re-injury while returning to full duty.
Prevention services focused on reduction of these injuries and included:
- Early Intervention Screens
- Ergonomic Assessments for employees and work groups
- Job Coaching
- Employee Education and Training classes
- Participation in manager meetings
PreCare Results:
After initiating onsite therapy and prevention services, the employer reports a 17% drop in overall claims and a 50% drop in indemnity claims. In addition, they reported a significant drop in the average number of physical therapy visits provided per injury. During the first year of prevention services, the total cost of injuries related to the problematic task identified in the initial claim review, dropped 98%. This was believed to be associated with the specific education and training provided to the work group regarding safe performance of the task.
Manufacturing Success Story
PreCare provides service for the world's largest tree nut processing company. On average, the company processes some 260 million pounds of almonds annually.
In 2002 PreCare became an integral part of the company's overall health and safety program, providing services to its approximately 1500 employees. Services include onsite Physical Therapy treatment and Injury Prevention Services. A core component of these services is the incorporation of the employee's workstation as part of the rehabilitation/intervention process.
Physical therapy consists of conventional treatment practices including manual therapy, appropriate modalities and functional based therapeutic exercise. Whenever possible, these interventions are coupled with functional task-specific rehab activities including body mechanics education and job coaching performed at the employee's work station or in a simulated environment.
Early Intervention Screens are a first aid and work behavior/task modification service designed to address employee symptoms at their earliest stage while at the same time identify and eliminate the root cause of their symptoms. With a minimum six hour per week commitment, PreCare's injury prevention services also include comprehensive ergonomic assessments of both the manufacturing/materials handling operations and the administrative staff.
In the nearly five years PreCare has been providing onsite services, the company has experienced a significant reduction in overall medical referrals, lost time injuries and related incurred medical expenses:
FISCAL YEAR | MEDICAL ONLY CASES | LOST TIME CASES | TOTAL CASES | INCURRED MEDICAL COST |
Sept-Aug FY03 | 61 | 12 | 73 | $894,092 |
Sept-Aug FY04 | 46 | 5 | 51 | $235,362 |
37 | 14 | 51 | $694,405 |
|
Sept-Aug FY06 | 22 | 6 | 28 | $164,868 |
Sept-Feb FY07 | 15 | 0 | 15 | $41,719 |
