Combining Carrier, Broker and TPA Resources to Control Claims Costs

Are you using the benefits provided by your insurance partners to their maximum benefit? Are you familiar with available training resources? Are your loss runs customized to fit the goals of your organization? Between the analytical capabilities of your TPA, the on-site training and specialized services of your excess carrier, and the business management insight of your broker, there are several resources at your disposal to improve your insurance program. Best of all, the right combination can help control rising claim costs.

“The correct use of your loss history can help improve the future of your business, but it requires becoming more familiar with the tools available through your insurance partners,” said Kevin O’Sadnick, Senior Risk Control Manager at Safety National. “The most successful companies never stop thinking of ways to improve their safety practices and are leveraging new technologies to help mitigate their claims costs.”

These resources provided by your TPA, broker and excess carrier can be used in conjunction for the maximum cost benefits to your organization.

Carrier Resources

Your excess carrier’s vast experience typically brings with it a team of in-house nurses and/or physicians with prior extensive catastrophic medical experience, and sometimes, actual claim handling experience. These experts routinely handle the worst medical conditions, so they have resources and contacts nationwide available for assistance or consultation. Your excess carrier commonly works with the best specialists in the country, knowing where the premier medical facilities are located. While costly, getting the most appropriate treatment helps to achieve the highest recovery possible. They may also have medical cost control strategies that can help cut costs significantly.

Using your carrier’s risk management services, such as online vendor resources or training, can provide best practices around fleet safety, ergonomics and industrial hygiene. Loss control visits can guide an organization’s risk management program and policy while assisting with accident analyses. On-site safety assessments can identify unmitigated risks and empower management teams to help control costs.

TPA Resources

TPAs can facilitate essential functions such as managing loss reserves, facilitating claims investigations, issuing claims payments and settlements, coordinating medical management and organizing transitional work. TPAs can help slice and dice the details of your claims, like loss percentages or experience modifiers, which calculate your organization’s workers’ compensation claims experience compared to other businesses similar in size and types of jobs. Some larger TPAs also have analytical capabilities that can provide more detailed loss information compared to industry peers. A TPA with the right technology can also set up customized loss runs that fit the needs and wants of your organization, which can include details like the length of time to report a claim, specific body parts involved in an injury and job types or locations.

Broker Resources

Brokers work with carrier partners daily and have useful insights into the ever-changing insurance world, including carrier appetites, carrier initiatives and employee classification changes. Some brokerage firms will conduct a comprehensive risk management review and provide feedback through recommendations and solutions. These solutions may come in the form of remote or virtual training, but they can also include technology, like wearables that provide data on lifting techniques or support body parts that take on additional stress. Brokers can also serve as your ally, understanding your organization’s needs and representing you with your best interests in mind.