In today’s workplace, the value of people is critical to driving productivity and, ultimately, your bottom line. With the rising costs of illness or injury-related absences from work, employers recognize the need for outcome-based solutions focused on the health and productivity of their employees.

A recent survey by the Washington Business Group on Health and Watson Wyatt Worldwide of employers that have integrated their disability plans found a 14 percent average annual reduction of disability costs, as well as an increase in productivity.

CareWorks USA Disability Management Services are designed to work together or independently and are customized to each employer’s program. We simplify the administration of your disability-related programs by providing a personalized approach to your employees.

Our experienced disability management professionals work with you and your employees to effectively manage return to work. CareWorks USA’s Disability Management Services delivers best-in-class services that can make a direct, positive impact on your bottom line. When an employee is absent from work, the impact on productivity is the same for any illness or injury—whether on or off the job—or other family medical leave issues.

CareWorks USA Disability Management Services provide a comprehensive approach to managing disability-related absences and returning your employees to work. From a single, streamlined absence-reporting process, to leave administration, claim administration and disability case management or short- and long-term disability and workers’ compensation benefits, our services help you achieve your goals of managing the health and productivity of your workforce.

Our services are delivered by a team comprised of a leave coordinator, claim specialist and disability Nurse Case Manager. In addition, we rely on the expertise and services of our in-house physicians, field-based case managers, vocational rehabilitation specialists, as well as safety and loss-control professionals.

Our team is backed by the industry-leading experience of CareWorks in disability case management and managed care. The experience of our affiliated organization for claims administration and our partner organizations for administration of self-insured and insured programs allows us to deliver seamless and coordinated services with fully integrated technology.

• We work directly with employers to develop case-specific, cost-effective return-to-work plans.
• Our medical case managers provide integrated case management when the employee is absent from work, regardless of if the absence is occupational or non-occupational in nature.
• Case management services can be coordinated and customized with the employer’s health plan benefit plan.
• We focus on managing employee disability to facilitate a timely and safe return to work.

Disability Management Program Components
Integrated approaches that cut costs and improve productivity.

Successful Disability Management programs begin with customization. CareWorks USA focuses on understanding the individual needs of each of our customers and developing customized programs to meet those needs.

Our customized services include the following:

• 24/7 absence reporting through one toll-free phone, toll-free fax or online.
• Clinical intake services to support immediate medical triage and initial benefit entitlement.
• Fair and consistent administration of FMLA and state leave requirements.
• Accurate tracking and reporting of continuous, intermittent and reduced schedule leaves for Short-Term Disability (STD), Long-Term Disability (LTD) and workers’ compensation.
• System integration of multiple disability plan benefits and statutory disability programs.
• Timely communication with employers and their employees.
• Coordinated STD, LTD and workers’ compensation claim administration.
• Single disability Nurse Case Manager for all occupational and non-occupational conditions.
• System-integrated treatment and disability duration guidelines.
• Proactive return-to-work management.
• Seamless coordination with Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), as well as health, disease management, wellness and work life programs.
• Early identification of LTD claims.
• Electronic data interfaces and outcome-based reporting.
• Employee and worksite education.
• Customer satisfaction survey implementation.
• Transitional/return-to-work program development.
• Safety and loss-control consultation.

Our customized services ensure that your integrated disability management program is administered according to your organization’s values and policies, and our experienced account management team makes the implementation process easy for you and you employees.

It takes more than just the best disability management services to improve your workforce’s productivity and control your program costs—it takes teamwork. At CareWorks USA, we proudly partner with our clients and strategic partners to ensure we’re delivering the best results for your program.

Partnerships With Insurance Agents, Benefit Consultants and Brokers

CareWorks USA is pleased to introduce Integrated Disability Management Services to assist your clients in effectively managing FMLA, Short-Term Disability (STD) and other sick-leave-related absences. In addition, CareWorks USA offers financial opportunities for agents to earn residual revenue on these services.

Many of our clients, as employers, are increasingly faced with significant challenges related to FMLA and state-leave-related absences. Inappropriate administration and mismanagement of absences can cost an employer millions of dollars in revenue, production and legal fees.

Today’s employees are becoming more knowledgeable on the use of FMLA and state leave benefits. As their knowledge and benefit use increases, so too will associated administrative/personnel costs to your lient’s organization. To combat these increasing costs, it is both financially and administratively critical to have a solid, well-governed absence management program in place.

Studies have shown that it can take an average of four to six hours to process an initial FMLA. For a 500-employee company averaging 75 claims each year, an employer will spend at least 25 hours a month handling FMLA. This equates to 7.5 full weeks a year just on the initial processing of FMLA claims. In addition, defense of an FMLA client costs, on average, $78,000 to $100,000 in legal fees regardless of outcome.

CareWorks USA Integrated Disability Management Services can deliver cost-saving impact on occupational and non-occupational absences. Our services are customized to each employer’s program, therefore providing your clients with a number of benefits, including the following:

• Reduced administrative time and expense.
• Positive impact on employee productivity through fair and consistent application of FMLA requirements.
• Consistent and accurate tracking of FMLA hours.
• Educated client employees.
• Accurately captured and reported lost work time, associated costs and employee trends.
• Alleviated concerns regarding privacy.
• Compliance with state and federal laws.
• Designated leave specialist provided.
• Integrated Nurse Case Managers.
• Reduced costs associated with FMLA absences.
• Customized program based on your client’s unique needs.

By partnering with CareWorks USA for FMLA claims administration, Insurance Agents, Benefits Consultants and Brokers are seeing the following results for their clients:

• 15 to 30% reductions in claims filed monthly.
• 15 to 26% reductions in hours utilized monthly.
• On average, returns on investment of 4 to 1.

CareWorks USA is a trusted solution for you and your clients to reduce absenteeism and derive a solid return on investment.

Unlike some carriers that offer FMLA administration as part of a bundled service, CareWorks USA provides FMLA administration as a standalone service. This enables your agency to extend this solution to more employers of various sizes and maintain clients even when a change in insurance carriers occurs. CareWorks USA will be the constant factor in helping you maintain your valuable client relationships.