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2022 US Insurance Awards: Bass Pro Shops/CorVel, Risk Management Team of the Year

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2022 US Insurance Awards: Bass Pro Shops/CorVel, Risk Management Team of the Year

Bass Pro Shops, a privately held specialty retailer focused on hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities, wanted to improve its return-to-work and temporary total disability tracking.

David Jones, director of risk management at the Bridgeport, Connecticut-based company, enlisted the help of risk management consultants and workers compensation administrator CorVel Corp. to help implement the recommendations of Bass Pro’s risk management team.

“They wanted to assemble a dedicated team of nurses that would essentially perform as an extension of the risk management department and ensure that injured workers received the most appropriate and best level of care possible,” said Aurora, Illinois-based Bill Koerner, vice president, national accounts at CorVel. 

The period between the original vision and the implementation of the program was about 90 days, “but the program has evolved over time,” Mr. Koerner said. “It took about a year to realize that additional nursing resources were needed to make the program truly successful.”

The program was designed to improve the tracking of temporary total disability claims and workers’ return to work while lowering medical costs and ensuring that injured workers received the appropriate level of care with the appropriate treating providers.

Taking the initiative companywide involved several different Bass Pro and CorVel teams, including risk management, safety, human resources, operations, workers compensation coordinator teams, and dedicated CorVel adjusters and nurse case managers. 

Weekly temporary total disability meetings were held to help track workers compensation claims more diligently, Mr. Koerner said

Bass Pro now has a dedicated team of CorVel nurses and coordinators working with adjusters, providers and employees to promote effective and timely return to work with maximum medical improvement. Mr. Koerner said.

“Early intervention and communication — starting with the intake process and continuing 24/7 — are getting patients to the right providers at the onset of the claim,” Mr. Koerner said. 

Follow-up by the nurses and the support team helps injured workers achieve more timely return to work and lower medical costs. 

Program results also include a decrease in case management costs and the number of injured workers on the temporary total disability report, Mr. Koerner said. There has also been a decline in litigated claims since the program began, he added.

FINALISTS

• The town of Greenwich, Connecticut, and Greenwich Public Schools — The risk management department spearheaded a cybersecurity program for the public entities and implemented procedures to ensure contractor compliance with insurance programs, among other initiatives.

• Carpenter & Co. — The company partnered with CorVel to improve claim closure rates for a workers comp trust. 

• KKR & Co. Inc. — KKR’s risk management team has brought innovation to developing a suite of programs to support the investment firm’s portfolio of companies, including cross-portfolio programs.

• Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. — The company’s insurable risk team worked with internal and external partners to develop and implement a new strategy and insurance program to tackle the evolving risks facing the company.

 

 

 

 

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