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Electronic prescribing, or e-prescribing, allows health care providers to securely send prescription information from their computer or tablet directly to pharmacies. E-prescribing isn't new, but it's gaining ground quickly as more and more states are considering a mandate on this prescription transmission method. E-prescribing has seen a wave of support over the years, and one notable reason is the opioid…

Claims leaders rank psychosocial issues as the number one barrier to successful claim outcomes, according to Rising Medical Solutions' 2016 Workers' Compensation Benchmarking Study survey. A new white paper, co-authored by study program director Rachel Fikes and industry journalist Peter Rousmaniere, shows how claims advocacy principles at The Hartford, CNA, Nationwide, and Albertsons Companies are taming the effects of psychosocial…

Summary judgment was properly awarded to an insurance company that denied a request to defend a construction company in a negligence suit, the Indiana Court of Appeals found Tuesday. The judges ruled the terms of the policy only obligated the insurance company after a certain amount of damages had been paid. When Walsh Construction Co. began construction a traffic exchange…

You hire new employees with the intent to maintain or increase your production and profitability, and not to increase your workplace injuries. Unfortunately, safety in the workplace is often overlooked on the new hire checklist. In fact, 40 percent of injured employees have been on the job less than one year (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). You can reduce your…

The number of workplace injury claims continues to decline year after year despite significant changes in workforce demographics that one might think should increase claims frequency, according to a report released Monday by the National Council of Compensation Insurance. The number of workers aged 55 and over has nearly doubled since 2006, At the same time, that age group began…

Workers compensation payers disbursed 3.8% less for prescriptions in 2018, including a 15% drop in opioids, due to a decline in utilization and overall cost per prescription, according to a drug trends report released Thursday by MyMatrixx, a subsidiary of Express Scripts Holding Co. Overall, 65.9% of comp payers spent less on opioids in 2018, with 17.7% of injured workers…