You’d be correct if you guessed that the most common worker’s compensation claim in a veterinary practice involves an animal bite. There’s more to it, however. I’ll walk you through employee injuries and a claim I see once or twice a year: vaccine spoilage. More importantly, I will look at how you can reduce the likelihood of those claims, streamline your responses when they happen, and ultimately, protect and defend your business and your insurance program from unnecessary loss.
Workers’ Compensation Claims
Finding a veterinary practice that has gone three years without an employee injury is rare. No matter how safe you think your clinic is, the unpredictability of your patients or an employee slip-and-fall can lead to an injury requiring medical attention. While the incident might mean a quick trip to urgent care, having to send a team member for treatment, fill out reports and file a dreaded workers’ compensation claim can disrupt your practice’s workflow.
While I can’t wave a magic wand to prevent injuries, consistency is the key to managing workers’ comp claims. I’ve found that practices with a simple, well-communicated process resolve claims faster, reduce an employee’s time away from work, and avoid unnecessary confusion or expense.
Here are three critical steps to take after every injury.
1. Report All Injuries the Day They Occur
Institute an end-of-day rule. On the same day they are injured, team members must report the incident to a supervisor, the practice manager or the clinic owner. Did you know that injuries occurring on a Thursday or Friday but not reported until the following week cost much more in both medical and lost-wage expenses? The bottom line is this: The longer someone takes to report an injury, the higher the claim cost tends to be.
At one practice I insure, a large dog pushed an employee, whose head struck the arm on an X-ray machine. The incident occurred on a Thursday, and no one witnessed it. The injured team member didn’t report the injury until the following week and complained of headaches only then. A trip to urgent care revealed a concussion, which led to considerable time off work, follow-up medical appointments and a workers’ compensation claim that was settled via mediation.
The wrinkle in the story is that the employee went snowboarding over the weekend following the injury and was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the initial medical visit, both of which might have contributed to the headaches. Lacking conclusive evidence, the practice had difficulty fighting the workers’ compensation claim.
Slip-and-falls, along with head injuries suffered by employees striking equipment and exam tables, are some of the costliest workers’ comp cases I see.
2. Collect an Injury Report in All Cases
Any time an employee is injured, having a standard reporting procedure is a must. Every state has a form for workers’ compensation claims. (Your insurance carrier or agent can provide one.) It will gather, at a minimum, the following details:
- Employee information
- Incident date, time and location
- Reporting date
- How the injury occurred
- Who witnessed the incident. (Remember to collect a witness statement.)
- If the employee received medical treatment, what kind was provided, and where?
Sometimes, however, an employee slips and falls in the breakroom or tweaks a knee lifting a dog onto an exam table. The team member feels fine at the time but, a few days later, complains of back pain or a swollen knee. Such injuries might go days or weeks before being reported.
Again, incidents like those should have been logged the day they occurred. Trying to remember what happened when, who was present, and the details makes for an inaccurate claim report.
3. Have Injured Employees Recover at Work
The two parts of a workers’ comp claim are the medical expense of treating an injury and the lost wages if work hours are missed due to injury. A return-to-work or recovery-at-work program will allow an injured team member to come back in a modified role, if possible. While the accommodation might be a short-term inconvenience for your staff, having the team member filling a modified, physician-approved role will reduce your claim costs.
If an injured team member is off work, the medical costs are calculated at their full value, and the lost wages paid by workers’ compensation insurance are added to the total claim cost.
I have found average claim costs of under $500 for a run-of-the-mill cat bite requiring a trip to urgent care for antibiotics and no lost time. However, claims involving an employee who misses any time at work — regardless of the injury — average over $4,000.
I cannot overstate the importance of providing a modified job assignment for an injured employee to lower your workers’ compensation costs. Studies have shown that the longer someone is out due to a workplace injury, the greater the chance the person will never return to work.
Vaccine Spoilage Claims
While not as common as employee injuries from cat bites, insurance claims related to vaccine spoilage still occur.
First, you should know precisely how much vaccine inventory your practice has. When conducting an inventory for insurance purposes, calculate the cost of replacing your vaccine stock at the time of the largest potential loss.
Second, ensure you have enough spoilage coverage. Most practices house from $10,000 to $25,000 worth of vaccines at any given time. However, I have seen policies with limits as low as $5,000 — or no coverage at all.
You might also consider equipment breakdown coverage, an inexpensive policy that can save you thousands of dollars should a claim occur. The most common cause in these cases is a refrigerator failure or power outage.
Installing a temperature alarm is the best way to prevent vaccine spoilage. You can purchase the device online for $30 to $50, giving you peace of mind knowing you’ll be alerted if your vaccine refrigerator goes down.
Veterinary medicine will always involve some risk, but when you prepare for the unexpected, you take control of the outcome. Whether it’s a cat bite, a concussion or a refrigerator gone rogue, having the right processes, documentation and coverage ensures your practice recovers quickly and your team stays protected.
STAY COOL
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides guidance on the proper storage and transport of refrigerated and frozen vaccines at bit.ly/42KSn6Y.