Workers’ compensation has been around for many years. However, this particular segment of the insurance industry has not seen much technological innovation over the years. Many organizations still make use of emails, spreadsheets, and paper to manage workplace safety and claims. However, some of the latest technologies have the potential to improve workers’ compensation programs in terms of training, communications, health care delivery, workers compensation payments, and much more.

While some people still have doubts about the role of technology in solving certain concern areas and improving processes that have been used for ages, it is undeniable that technology can significantly improve the claim handling process by making it more efficient, accurate, and economical. With an ever-increasing focus on improving the experience of injured workers, emerging tech has already helped insurers become more proactive towards facilitating recovery and reducing employee anxiety.

Mentioned below are some key areas where technology provides new opportunities for improving workers’ compensation claims management.

• Improved communication is one area where technology has made a significant positive impact on the workers’ compensation claims processes. The emergence of mobile technology has made communication easier than ever before. Using their mobile devices, workers can easily capture and share key information impacting workers’ compensation. More and more employees are now using this technology to report field information in real-time, eliminating unnecessary paperwork and delays. Mobile technology also improves the accuracy of communication, allowing fast and convenient claim processing and provides more certainty in the process for both workers and employers.
• An effective program for claims management needs to facilitate the pharmacy needs and coordination of care of the injured worker during the recovery process. In many instances, this critical situation is now being handled via technology by linking together a network of pharmacies, facilities, and doctors electronically. For example, in case of a power outage, it is not possible to continue the necessary treatments for an injured worker. Obtaining the required medications from the local pharmacies may also be difficult in these circumstances. In these situations, a digital network helps coordinate treatment for a worker and finds medications from other pharmacies without any delay whatsoever.      
• Claims management is one specific area of workers’ compensation where technology has already made a huge impact on improving employee satisfaction.  New automated processes have been implemented by several insurers to drastically reduce the claim intake time. It is expected that the use of robots will become commonplace in the industry over the next few years. This emerging technology is capable of responding automatically whenever a compensation claim is filed by a worker. This automation accelerates the processing and assignment of claims, relieving the claims experts from repetitive administrative tasks and providing them flexibility. It also paves the way for direct interaction between the injured workers and claims teams, creating more value by connecting the parties at a personal level.
• The direct and indirect costs related to the management of worker safety programs and workers’ compensation claims can be extremely high. For many businesses, these numbers become unsustainable when the time spent on managing these programs is factored in. The use of technology helps increase organizational productivity by simplifying the claims process. For example, mobile apps and wearable technology tools can now be used to proactively reduce employee injury by indicating body temperature, fatigue repetitive motion data, etc.

The insurance industry is going through an exciting time, with the use of technology delivering new claims management solutions every now and then. With a plethora of real benefits to both the employee and employer, these tech innovations are likely to have a lasting impact on an organization’s culture through better transparency and collaboration, as well as a direct impact on costs and operational efficiency.