1. SAVING THE CITY
Six Steps to Superhero Risk Management
Gary Eastes,
Risk/Benefits Manager,
City of Knoxville
Cheryle Tuttle,
Director, CSC
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
9:00 – 10:00 am
2. Gary Eastes, City of Knoxville
PRIMA Public Risk Manager of the Year
Theodore Roosevelt Workers’ Compensation & Disability Management Award
Champion Award for Excellence in Workers’ Compensation Management
Achievement Award for Excellence in Human Resources
4. City of Knoxville
Self-insured and self-administered for
worker’s compensation and liability
1,700 employees: many are male and
over 40, high chronic disease burden
Fire department, police
department, public works, et al.
5. How Things Used to Be
“What We Do Is
Dangerous and
Employee Injuries Are
Unavoidable”
“Employee Safety
Is Not
My Responsibility”
“What Works in the
Private Sector Will Not
Work Here”
“Safety Rules Prevent
Getting the Job Done”
“The Public
“The Public Does Not Care”
Does Not
Care”
“What Matters is
Getting the Job Done,
Not How It is Done”
13. First Steps
Improving Use of Data
Upgrading Risk Staff
Reopening the Health, Education and
Wellness Center
Closing On-Site Medical Clinic
Contracting for Higher Health Care
Education
14. The Leap
• Dramatic expansion of the contract
for on-site
medical services (2011)
• Included on-site/dedicated
physical therapy, ergonomics
expertise, and case management
• Integrating the occupational/health
resources in a holistic approach
(on-site diabetic
educator/nutritionist and fitness
specialist)
• Team approach to data analysis
15. Two Key Organizational Changes
On-site Physical Therapy
Therapy therapist puts
• Full-time
emphasis on best use of
resource rather than
managing billing
• Better use of work
conditioning
• Resource for safety and
work assignments
• Some PT services at
employee’s work location
On-site Case Management
• Close coordination with
claims adjuster as well as
on-site treatment staff
• Direct communication with
supervision
• Resource for claims adjuster
on medications and
other issues
• Familiar to employees
16. Coordination with The Center
• Coordination of appointments to department needs
• Service delivery at work locations (blood draws, drug
tests, physical therapy/work conditioning, classes,
disease mgmt coaching)
• Light duty coordination
• Case Reviews include treatment staff, case manager
and claims adjuster
• Safety Program/Training consultation
• Ergonomic consultation
• Injury trend reviews
18. Process Changes
Improved Billing
•Total Health and
Productivity Program
•Use of a holistic approach
to combining resources
Improved Data
Processing
•Web-based injury report
•Control consistency of
information
•Segregation of data
18
20. Success Stories
Drivers & Goals
• Improve claim loss payment and loss adjustment
experience
• Gain efficiencies – speed to close claim
• Increase stakeholders’ satisfaction
21. Keys to Success
1. Establish ownership by all key
management
2. Engage strong partners committed
to our success
3. Design processes for improvement
4. Educate employees
5. Analyze results
6. Optimize Claims Solution
22. CSC’s RISKMASTER Accelerator
Policy Management
Claims Management
Legal Management
Workers Comp
Property
Vehicle
Liability
Workers Comp
Property
Vehicle
Liability
Non-Occupational
eBill
Legal Matter
Management
Legal Bill Review
Event to
Claim Model
Flexible
System
Easily Integrated
Modules
Automate and
Streamline
Workflow
Cheryle: Gary may not be wearing a superhero cape, but he has won his share of accolades for his work in the City of Knoxville. Thanks to his leadership in the City of Knoxville, the City has reduced worker’s compensation costs while also improving workplace safety for city employees. (Talk about his awards and then hand over presentation to Gary)
As the third largest city in Tennessee, the City of Knoxville provides police, fire, parks and recreation, community development, streets and sidewalks, transit, waste management, public assemblies, animal control and related services for its 300,000 citizens. The City’s employee base is four years older than the average employee in Tennessee, with a high percentage of males over the age of 40. As a result, the City is faced with a very high chronic disease burden and propensity for orthopedic injuries. As with most municipal governments, the services are principally delivered in the field with continually changing physical demands, creating unique workers compensation and liability challenges. Between 2002 and 2009, we changed our culture and really stepped up our focus on safety. We’ve cut severe claims in half. Our workers comp expenditures were running over $5 M; we’ve brought those expenses down to less than $2M . And we have improved our return to work program.
case management for injured workers, with an integrated system that combines health screening, wellness guidance, on-site medical attention and physical therapy
Next door to The Center, more emphasis on early PT rather than later, and better coordination
Billing and the way we handle data changed. Now onsite services are bundled into the Total Health and Productivity Program, which is more cost-effective and puts us ina better bargaining position. We are able to focus on the effective use of resources. We use a holistic approach to combining resources. Last but not least, we changed our data processes. We produce a web-based injury report, control the consistency of information and now data is segregated for better management reporting. Departments share seats – risk is combined with health, disability and attendance data
For a risk management function to work like COK, many organizations need to Need better claim loss payment and loss adjustment experienceThey’re dealing with manual processes They can’t track event-related activities They struggle to consolidate claims dataClaims processing time is too longToo many processesInconsistent practices throughout organizationNo central location to access dataand they need timely, accurate and consistent customer interactions and loss payments to increase stakeholders’ satisfaction.
For number 6 say: As part of its loss prevention program, the City implemented CSC's RISKMASTER Accelerator for a single database that interfaces with city accounting, HR and inventory systems. Having RISKMASTER Accelerator as it risk management information system (RMIS) enables the case manager to input case notes directly into the database.
It doesn’t take a superhero to turn around a challenging risk management operation. But it does take strong leadership, careful planning, strong partnerships and the right kind of system for your needs. For the City of Knoxville, that system is RISKMASTER Accelerator.