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Workers' Comp Claims Administration the Disney Way
Author: | Friday January 16, 2009
Michele Adams is Manager of Workers' Compensation Claims for Walt Disney World in Orlando. She is shown with Greg Jenkins, Bureau Chief for Employee Assistance for the Florida Division of Workers' Compensation.
Work Comp at Disney World, Serious Business
Imagine that you have employees who are set on fire as part of their job description? Not just occasionally, but several times every day? If you work in the claims department and manage those employees, the challenges to your job are obvious.
For self-administrator, the Walt Disney Company, managing the safety and the claims of those employees and the rest of the 65,000 "cast members" at Walt Disney World in Orlando is a major commitment in human resources and program organization.
Michele Adams, Manager of the Workers' Compensation Claims Department at the mega entertainment complex, said that every thing flows from a focus on safety. "We kicked off a program in 2004 that involves the employees, 'Safe D Begins with Me'," Adams told an audience of workers' compensation administrators at the winter meeting of the Southern Association of Workers' Compensation Administrators in Naples, FL.
"Reducing the risk of injury is our number priority," Adams emphasized.
As you might expect, Disney's first priority is hiring the best people to work in the claims division, according to Adams. Any staff members who "touch" a claim must be certified, she added. There are 35 adjusters who work for Disney World and all receive ongoing education specific to claims management.
The company has been working to streamline its claims management operations, evolving a "best practices" program over time and that means discarding worthless data and eliminating duplication.
When a cast members is injured, the company takes a proactive role, according to Adams. This involves constant communication and a philosophy of "recovery at work". "We have three rehabilitation in-house and a work-restriction program that provides modified duties. Our goal is to keep the employee working," Adams said.
Managing work related injuries requires constant attention and Walt Disney World has four full time physicians on site operating medical and occupational clinics. The company works closely with its outside contractors, Adams indicated. "We work with the same provider for our pharmacy services in both Orlando and Los Angeles," she said.
But getting the best provider does not always mean getting the biggest, she added. "It is not easy for a vendor to get on our list," Adams said. Rapid response and good service are major requirements. "If I make a call is the doctor going to see a cast member right away? We do surveys with our injured cast members and we manage our contracts in-house. We want long-term relationships with our vendors," Adams concluded.
The toughest provider services to develop according to Adams is transportation. "It has been the hardest thing for us to do over the last nine years," she noted.
The bottom line for the company that has set the bar high in the entertainment and service industry is to apply that same approach to managing claims and mitigating risk. Disney is a company that wants to stay informed on the workers' compensation laws, Adams stated. "We want to stay engaged in the process."
Ed. Note: World wide the Disney Company has 137,000 employees. To learn more about the SAWCA organization visit www.sawca.com
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