The treatment of musculoskeletal disorders comprises 5.4% of the gross domestic product, or an estimated $849 billion annually. Growth in E-health applications has resulted in the development of treatment strategies to improve healthcare while reducing costs.
Despite implementation of managed-care programs in the workers' compensation arena in the 1990s, claims costs continue to soar. This rate of increase associated with workers’ compensation medical costs has outpaced that of general healthcare. Moreover, the standard of care associated with occupational medicine is generally perceived to be lower than what is delivered in a traditional healthcare setting.
We think one of the problems is that little effort has been directed toward helping injured workers understand their diagnosis or treatment options. Many injured workers do not know how to facilitate their own recovery process.
How can we help? We facilitate the recovery and claims processes. This makes practical sense. The more they are engaged, the more likely injured employees will participate in positive behavior, helping them return to work sooner. But in a world of rapidly changing technology, measures for engaging workers must evolve-or be doomed to fail.
Despite implementation of managed-care programs in the workers' compensation arena in the 1990s, claims costs continue to soar. This rate of increase associated with workers’ compensation medical costs has outpaced that of general healthcare. Moreover, the standard of care associated with occupational medicine is generally perceived to be lower than what is delivered in a traditional healthcare setting.
We think one of the problems is that little effort has been directed toward helping injured workers understand their diagnosis or treatment options. Many injured workers do not know how to facilitate their own recovery process.
How can we help? We facilitate the recovery and claims processes. This makes practical sense. The more they are engaged, the more likely injured employees will participate in positive behavior, helping them return to work sooner. But in a world of rapidly changing technology, measures for engaging workers must evolve-or be doomed to fail.
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