- Electronic payment integration, mobile communication for injured employees remain payer priorities
Enlyte, the parent brand of Mitchell, Genex and Coventry, released survey results of its 2022 Workers’ Compensation Technology Trends Report. The research reveals significant technology transformation in the industry as a result of the pandemic, provides insights into companies’ technology investments and adoption strategies, and explores which products and services will impact the industry next.
“This will continue to create better overall experiences for all stakeholders in the claims process and enable better claim outcomes.”
Enlyte’s survey of workers’ compensation professionals shows over the past year, workers’ compensation companies invested most in finding ways to use technology to improve internal efficiencies and manage the effects of COVID-19. However, many companies have not yet tapped into the full advantages of automation. Going forward, the research suggests the industry will turn its attention to applying technology to create better experiences for injured employees, focus on communication, improve return-to-work processes and more.
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Top findings from the 2022 survey include the following:
- The workers’ compensation industry invested most in telemedicine and electronic payments/billing throughout 2021. In fact, electronic payments made the biggest jump from last year’s results, moving from fourth to second place.
- Mobile apps for injured employee communication are expected to have the greatest impact on the industry in the next 5-10 years, with the goal of improving communication and the return-to-work process.
- Most organizations are only automating 25% of their medical bills using straight-through processing, which demonstrates a clear opportunity for efficiency improvement.
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“Workers’ compensation technology adoption is still being driven by COVID-19. Payers are still looking for ways to better manage COVID-19 claim trends, improve efficiency as they experience turnover and find better ways for their teams to work remotely,” said Shahin Hatamian, senior vice president of product management at Mitchell. “As the world begins to transition into more of an endemic phase, we anticipate a continued focus on technologies that can automate manual processes, improve productivity, increase patient and provider engagement, enable faster and smarter decision making, and ensure the continuity of care.”
In addition, Enlyte survey respondents said communicating with injured employees is considered the most important step in the claim lifecycle that could benefit most from applying new or more technology.
“As organizations continue to focus on stabilizing and improving their businesses in the coming years, using technology to improve the injured employee experience and return-to-work processes will become even more important for the workers’ compensation industry,” said Hatamian. “This will continue to create better overall experiences for all stakeholders in the claims process and enable better claim outcomes.”
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