January 2020
Technology & Integration
Whether through health and safety apps, integrated benefit portals, or automated claims management processes, technology and artificial intelligence are driving the integrated absence management industry forward. This issue of @Work discusses the many options and benefits technology offers as well as strategies to address challenges and pitfalls that may arise.
Features
How Technology Can Simplify the Healthcare and Wellness Ecosystem
The healthcare and wellness ecosystem is large and very complex to navigate, even before provider shortages are factored in. Technology solutions such as platform apps and telemedicine can help your organization work around barriers to improve the health and productivity of your employees and their families. Read more.
Leverage Technology in Work Disability Prevention
The continued development of innovative technologies and broader application of existing technologies are redefining the contemporary workplace. Technology can be used to create and sustain the health, happiness, motivation, and productivity that employees want, and employers need. Read more.
Spotlight Articles
Program Showcase: Absence Dashboards
A dashboard’s ability to communicate key performance indicators effectively and efficiently may help create interest in other advancements such as program integration, concierge services, and broader access to mental health services. Read more.
Compliance Showcase: Open/Agile Environments
As more employers implement “open” or “agile” work environments, this creates both challenges and opportunities in regard to Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations. Simple technology solutions play a key compliance role in these environments. Read more.
RTW Showcase: AI Technology
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is impacting our expectations for a great experience. To retain employees with those expectations and to use the power of AI to reduce costs and capture opportunities, organizations large and small are deploying AI to improve customer relationships and positively impact their bottom lines. Read more.
Columns
Absence Matters: Technology Tools
Technology is now being put to use for those needing time away from work to reduce their burdens. These new technologies provide wins all around by also providing employers with more timely information and tracking tools to better plan for and manage workforce absences. Read more.
Integrated Absence Management: Man Over Machine
User expectations are shifting, driven by the likes of Amazon, Starbucks, Uber, etc. The more we understand our users — whether they’re our employees, claimants, or consumers — the better we can respond with real solutions to solve their problems, using a marriage of innovation and technology. Read more.
Engaging Today's Workforce: Applied Analytics
Integrated absence management vendors are delivering applied analytics solutions using artificial intelligence and machine learning to give customers richer, more targeted insights and improve overall claims decision-making. Read more.
Employer Solutions: Using APIs
When data sources can "talk" to each other in real time, the conversation makes for a seamless coordination of leave programs and benefits. Application programming interface (API) can also help employers integrate new leave benefits with their existing programs. Read more.
FMLA & ADA Medical Information: "Complete and Sufficient" Certification
FMLA regulations provide that an employer is entitled to a “complete and sufficient” certification with information to help the employer determine whether the employee has a qualifying “healthcare provider” and whether the employee has a “serious health condition.” Read more.
IAM Technology Tips: Three Ways to Use Technology
Disability, absence, and accommodation management are inundated with options for machine learning, artificial intelligence, and no-touch processing. When used well, such technology can reduce errors, ensure compliance, and reduce absence administration costs. But does all this high-tech investment render human resources redundant? Read more.
Absence & Accommodation Technology: Laying the Groundwork
When an employer is in the market for new absence management technology, it’s important to take a step back and lay the proper groundwork before even launching the search. Building a solid foundation can propel your project past needless frustration. Read more.
Common Sense Compliance: ADA-Compliant Websites
Under the ADA, places of public accommodation must provide full and equal enjoyment for people with disabilities. A website must ensure accessibility for those with visual, audio, dexterity, or other impairments by enabling them to consume content, navigate the site, and interact with site features. Read more.
A Clinician's Viewpoint: Transforming Data
Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) generate a lot of buzz, but the true innovation is in understanding how to leverage data for more effective claims management, better outcomes, and reduced disability cost. Read more.
Workplace Mental Health: Promise of Technology
Interest in workplace mental health is on the rise with employers. For workplace professionals who are responsible for prevention, treatment, or disability management related to mental health, technology promises to play a helpful role. Read more.
Benefits & Risk Management: Wearable Devices
Many employers are now requiring use of wearable devices to monitor how employees work. But what about the data these devices collect? Is this a new form of protected health information (PHI) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)? Read more.
Departments
The CEO's Desk: Is It Human?
For the absence management community, artificial intelligence (AI) adoption has been slower, but we are seeing an acceleration. Employers are challenged to design and plan how they use AI, leveraging the strengths and dodging the downsides of this rapidly expanding technology. Read more.
DMEC News: January 2020
DMEC is pleased to welcome new Employer Advisory Council (EAC) members who begin their two-year terms in 2020, thank our departing EAC members who ended their terms in 2019, and welcome new National sponsors. Read more.
Compliance Memos: January 2020
The January 2020 compliance memos cover the new paid family leave benefit for civilian federal employees, an EEOC outsourcing case, an accommodation case, and ACA mandates still in effect. Read more.
