2020 Innovation Awards: Workers Compensation Guide and Injured Worker Portal

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.
& Helmsman Management Services LLC 
WORKERS COMPENSATION GUIDE
AND INJURED WORKER PORTAL

From banking to health insurance, consumers are increasingly wishing to do business — check balances, find doctors and make appointments — over smartphone applications. 

Such was the thinking behind the Workers Compensation Guide and Injured Worker Portal, rolled out as a pilot program by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. and Helmsman Management Services LLC, the insurer’s third-party administrator, and winner of a 2020 Business Insurance Innovation Award.

“From the claims perspective, as the world has evolved and technology has advanced, we need to offer modern tools to the workers,” said Wes Hyatt, Boston-based senior vice president of workers compensation claims for Liberty Mutual. “Everybody wants to manage some aspect of their lives on their phones; they want transparency and 24-hour access.” 

At the heart of the new program, which offers injured workers real-time data on their claims, including medical documents and indemnity payments, is the ease with which injured workers can find relief in what has always been a “stressful time,” she said.

According to focus groups and interviews, claimants wanted to see in real-time their payments, to know when a check was mailed, and to receive electronic transfers and direct deposits, to upload medical forms and documents pertaining to reimbursable mileage for appointments — all through the portal, Ms. Hyatt said.

Nate Pullen, Liberty Mutual’s Boston-based vice president of commercial customer experience, said the portal is designed to complement, not replace, the live voice — and the claimant advocacy — that comes with having access to an adjuster. Immediate access to materials and claim information gets “some of the noise out of the way” in the claims process, he said. 

“Claims can be difficult,” Ms. Hyatt said. “Explaining things to people, slowing down and having their human-centered approach is important to us, but in this day and age technology has to run alongside that.” 

David Dwortz, Boston-based president of Helmsman Management Services, said the portal is likely to create better outcomes for injured workers and, as a result, meet the need of employer clients. 

“If we can add a better experience for their injured workers that allows them to stay more engaged and feel better about their employer, that’s the value we bring to the table,” he said. 

“The tools are part of the overall journey and the push for advocacy.” 

The portal, which has been offered in a limited capacity since April, is expected to be available to all Liberty Mutual clients this fall.