db.com

Finally, costs per claim in California is on the rise. The average claim cost is $48,603.25 in 2008. The supply of licensed healthcare professionals treating worker’s comp continues to decreases due to constraints on a national level.  (These constraints are outlined in my journal publication titled “Goldratt’s Thinking Process Applied to the Problems Associated with: The Texas Worker’s Compensation System” Ethics & Critical Thinking Quarterly Journal, Volume 2008 Issue 1 and applies to CA employers) Additionally, the demand for care will be exponentially inelastic as sociological trends continue to skyrocket toward unhealthy lifestyle patterns. Believe me, the costs per claim will continue to increase as fewer licensed professionals treat worker’s comp claims and the frequency of claims will continue to increase as long as accountability of worker’s comp claims are 100% on employers. The costs of goods & services will continue to increase as corporations attempt to sustain profit margins. Moreover, the ability to remain competitive will reside in corporations ability to manage costs, not in raw materials, but in how it’s human resources are managed. We need accountability!  

This spiraling chain can only be prevented with proactive preventative measures achieved in functional employment testing. Functional employment testing transitions liability away from the employer and enables the job candidate to prove capacity to handle the job’s essential functions & essential activities. Employers can also achieve these same preventative measures by annually testing the aging workforce. Look, if an employee struggles or shows inability to handle essential job functions/activities during a functional employment test in a safe clinical environment, they a going to experience the same results on the job site. But here’s the difference: if the candidate fails or struggles during a test, the licensed testing professional will stop the test to prevent injury. If the candidate fails on the job site the stakes are much higher. The stakes when failing on the job site could include but are not limited to: catastrophic injuries, damage to property, injuries to others, and even death. All of these lead to increased costs. This is why functional employment testing is actually an investment rather then an expense.   

If a candidate or employee is not capable to handle the essential function/ability the question is NOT ‘if’ an injury will occur it’s ‘when’. Functional employment testing eliminates the guessing game.