What to Consider When Choosing a Workers’ Compensation plan for Your Dental Practice
Workers’ comp claims are determined on the basis of a medical records review. Here is what to consider when choosing a WC plan for your dental practice.
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Workers’ compensation claims that are determined on the basis of a detailed medical records review may be filed by dental practice employees also. Unfortunately, some dentists fail to see that the dental practice is also a small business, when they have the dental services and patient care foremost in their mind. It is important that dental practice employees are also covered by workers’ compensation insurance. As the business owner, the dentist has to take necessary steps to maintain a safe workplace. Dental Practice Employees Are Also Injury Prone A dental practice employee may sustain workplace injuries from potential slips and falls just as in any other workplace environment. In addition, they may also suffer from specific work-related injuries and disease transmission related to the use of various dental tools such as drills, probes, and explorers. When safety is ensured in the dental practice and the staffs are covered by workers’ compensation, it is advantageous in two ways. The employees are protected and happy; and costs can be reduced with lesser number of workers’ compensation claims. Ideally, dentists owning the practice must also be covered by workers’ compensation because by excluding themselves from this insurance, they stand the risk of having their healthcare provider deny coverage for an injury sustained while working. What Coverage Is Offered by Workers’ Comp? Workers’ compensation insurance pays for medical expenses and lost income for injured workers. In addition, some policies also provide return to work support. A workers’ comp policy combines two different coverage forms, workers’ compensation and employer’s liability. In most US states, employers are mandated to carry this insurance and those who carry this insurance cannot be sued by an injured employee. ➢
Workers’ compensation: The coverage is unlimited. Medical expenses and lost wages are covered for the injured employee. This insurance may also function as long-term disability coverage in serious cases.
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Employer’s liability: The employer’s liability limits are mentioned as limits of coverage on the WC policy. This coverage is relevant in exceptional cases where the nature of the injury sustained by the employee allows the employer to be sued. This exception is typically restricted to situations where the employee is killed on the job, and the death can be attributed to the negligence of the employer.
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Major Considerations When Choosing a Workers’ Comp Plan What are the major considerations when choosing a workers’ comp plan for your dental practice? •
The policy you choose should offer you the best value in terms of added services such as return-to-work program support, flexible payment plans, loss control resources and a dedicated fraud investigation team.
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You must have a clear understanding regarding how your premium is calculated. o
A premium is usually calculated on the basis of the actual gross payroll paid by the employer for those individuals who could receive workers’ compensation benefits for job-related injuries.
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Employers with similar businesses are grouped together by the insurer. This will enable them to identify risk exposures common to those employers, and the premium charged will be in keeping with the exposure to losses common to those employers.
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With some exceptions, it is the employer’s business within a particular state
that
is
grouped,
and
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the
diverse
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operations/occupations. o
Some insurers use experience rating, which distinguishes the differences between individual insured employers with regard to safety and loss prevention. For this, the insurer compares the experience of individual insured entities with the average insured in the same classification. An experience rating modification is used to reflect the differences, based on individual payroll and loss records. This rating may bring about an increase, decrease, or no change in premium. The insured employers who qualify for experience rating modifications could benefit from reduced premiums if they maintain safe work environments.
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The insurance policy holder can exclude coverage for owners and officers of the business. However, before doing that it is vital to understand that many group health insurance policies exclude coverage for workassociated injuries. If they choose to enrol in the policy, the amount of payroll used to calculate the additional premium is limited to $62,400 (if the business is incorporated) and $50,200 (if the business is a sole proprietorship).
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A workers’ comp policy can also be set up on a “pay as you go” basis. In this case, the policy holder has to report their actual payroll monthly and make a payment on the basis of this. Often, discounts are associated when you choose to pay under this method.
www.mosmedicalrecordreview.com
(800) 670 2809
Workers’ compensation insurance should be part of a larger scheme to ensure employee health and safety in your dental practice. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) says that committing to a safety plan by establishing guidelines, and regularly training employees in workplace best practices will help reduce workplace injuries and workers’ compensation claims, and increase productivity. According to OSHA, a reliable health and safety program can save $4 to $6 for every $1 invested. Employers Should Remain Pro-active Working with workers’ compensation lawyers for many years now, our medical claims review company understands why businesses should have well-written policies and ensure that employees understand the policy clearly. It is the onus of the employer to initiate workers’ comp claims when an employee believes she/he has an injury/illness, and indicates that it is due to work conditions.
Immediately on receiving notification
regarding the illness or injury, an accident report must be completed and the insurer notified. The report should contain relevant items such as time and date, witness information, location, description, type of injury/illness, cause of injury, and medical treatment provided. Any factual information that indicates that the claim is not work related must be included when reporting the matter to the insurer. It is important to save copies of all correspondence with the insurance company, and all relevant medical information related to the claim. From the time the employee files a claim (whether it is accepted or not) he/she is automatically extended protections from discrimination and retaliation under the law. Employers considering disciplinary measures, termination and other adverse actions must think twice before going ahead with those. Legal assistance from a workers’ compensation lawyer or consultation with an HR specialist is advisable before taking such actions.
www.mosmedicalrecordreview.com
(800) 670 2809