Ascellus

With the recent economic uncertainty, I've been exploring how downturns historically impact workers' compensation claims. Looking at the data last night, the pattern is fascinating: for every 1% increase in unemployment, the industry typically sees a 2-3% decrease in claims initially. Then claim duration increases by 5-7%, followed by an eventual normalization. While each economic downturn is unique, this pattern tends to hold. (Hat tip to the researchers at NCCI and WCRI for this insight!) Why does this happen? Workers' comp claims drop at first because people get nervous about job security. They don't want to be seen as difficult or risk losing hours, so they push through injuries. Over the following months, durations for claims that are filed start creeping up - these cases become harder to close because injuries have compounded. The injured worker might not have gotten treatment soon enough, developed chronic pain, or begun struggling with behavioral health challenges like depression, anxiety, or fear of re-injury. Whatever the reason, they stay out of work longer. Once unemployment stabilizes or after layoffs occur, people who were holding off have no reason to wait anymore. The result? More claims, and typically more complicated ones. This consistent pattern creates a trap. The reflex might be to think, "Now isn't the time to solve mental health." But in reality, this is precisely when risk increases the most. The organizations that get ahead of this cycle - the ones with solutions already in place - are those best positioned to manage these claims before they spiral. #workerscomp #claims

Online interventions for symptomatic anxiety and other behavioral health challenges is gaining traction, and might help us fill some gaps in access to care. But notice my word choices, distinctions which the Guardian article does not make: 1) I deliberately chose the word "interventions" and not "therapy" - to me therapy requires a human interaction, but there are many interventions that may not. 2) I chose to add the word "symptomatic" in front of "anxiety" for a couple of reasons, but mostly because we all have anxiety from time to time, much of which doesn't rise to the level of requiring intervention and is instead a normal condition of life. 3) Finally, I deliberately chose "behavioral health challenges" because "anxiety" (or depression, or any number of other common psychological symptoms) don't by themselves amount to a diagnosis that requires treatment. The Guardian article doesn't make these distinctions, but to be fair neither do most discussions I've seen of this growing business of online "care." Being more careful with language could help us put these applications in a better perspective. Most importantly, if we understood there's a spectrum of behavioral challenges, some of which do NOT require referral to a trained therapist, we'd do a lot to relieve some of the access bottleneck because we could entertain other interventions. But at the same time, let's not send someone who DOES need a therapist to an app, and let's not pretend that online therapy is a universal solution. My solution does also require a way to help make the distinction as to who gets what level of care. Some of that can be done by predictive analytics (shameless plug for my work with The Claim Lab), some of it requires early assessment and a navigator (shameless plug for the development work I helped do with Axiom Medical), and some of it requires knowing who can provide good quality behavioral care that is totally focused on returning people to work functioning (shameless plug for my work with Ascellus). The theme here is this: we have a mental health crisis that impacts workplaces. There are solutions to these problems. Let's get on with solving them. What do you think? #behavioralhealth #mentalhealthishealth #workplacementalhealth #solutions

Anyone who knows me understands my deep passion for workplace mental health. Over time, I have observed various cycles of optimism surrounding the conversation, especially with the recent surge of articles, ideas, apps, and promises during and following the pandemic. However, despite these efforts, the discussions seem to remain stagnant, with few fundamental changes. Mental health stigma continues to be a significant barrier, access to quality care has deteriorated, and skepticism persists within the workers' compensation and disability systems. It seems to me that interest and enthusiasm are on the decline. It might be time for some introspection. What are your thoughts on this trend? Let's reflect on why these challenges persist and what steps we can take to drive meaningful change. #WorkplaceMentalHealth #EndTheStigma #QualityCare