Evidence Based Medicine for Improved Outcomes

By Jamie LaPaglia, RN, CCM

Implementation Manager & Clinical Educator
ODG an MCG Health Company

The ever-growing list of new federal, state, and local leave mandates has made administrative functions more crucial than ever to the effective operation of integrated absence management (IAM) programs. However, we sometimes let Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) constraints intimidate us into relinquishing medical case management. When we do this, we are forfeiting one of the key tools to reduce medical cost and disability durations in the workers’ compensation return-to-work process.

IAM professionals cannot apply medical management in the same way to non-occupational absence. But they can still influence selection of treatment plans for short-term disability (STD) claims, potentially reducing duration of the claims. According to The Standard’s Employee Disability Leave Study, employees with STD claims referred to a clinician for disease management — which includes treatment planning — had little more than half the disability duration as those who had not been referred.¹

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