Disability case management: an impact assessment in an automotive manufacturing organization

A multifaceted disability management program was instituted at an automotive manufacturing organization to control rising workers' compensation costs. A pilot program showed major cost savings over a 9-month period. When total and component disability leave rates were calculated as a percentage...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of occupational and environmental medicine Vol. 42; no. 6; p. 597
Main Authors Mobley, E M, Linz, D H, Shukla, R, Breslin, R E, Deng, C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.06.2000
Subjects
Adult
Automobiles
Biometry
Case Management - organization & administration
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Disabled Persons
Female
Humans
Industry - economics
Male
Middle Aged
Pilot Projects
Program Development
Program Evaluation
Sampling Studies
Sickness Impact Profile
United States
Workers' Compensation - economics
United States
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Summary:A multifaceted disability management program was instituted at an automotive manufacturing organization to control rising workers' compensation costs. A pilot program showed major cost savings over a 9-month period. When total and component disability leave rates were calculated as a percentage of the available workforce and tracked on a weekly basis over the subsequent 3 years, total disability leave rates fell by nearly 50%. This was largely attributable to an approximately 50% decrease in the extended (> 1-year) disability leave rate and a 75% decrease in the workers' compensation leave rate. A novel approach to biostatistical analysis showed a good fit of weekly disability leave rates to a Poisson random variable distribution with an identifiable break point at about 1 1/2 years after observation for extended disability leaves and at 2 years for workers' compensation leaves. This biostatistical approach may prove generalizable to tracking leave rates in other organizations.
ISSN:1076-2752
1536-5948
DOI:10.1097/00043764-200006000-00008