Work Related Injury Process and attachments

***Washington State is a monopolistic state isn’t covered by TeamHealth Travelers work comp policy, and the following work flow doesn’t apply. For injuries in WA, employed providers need to facilitate claims via Labor & Industries by getting seen and reporting the accident. This does not need to be reported to TeamHealth, but it does need to be reported to your medical director. Hence, you do not need to contact the nurse triage line.

TeamHealth employees can now call the TeamHealth Nurse Triage Line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for immediate access to a trained medical professional.

The TeamHealth triage nurse will assess your employee’s injury over the phone and refer them to the most appropriate level of care: first aid, a walk-in clinic, or the emergency department. Please call 911 in the event of a life-threatening emergency.

The information gathered by the triage nurse will be forwarded to the workers’ compensation specialist at TeamHealth for submission to The Hartford as appropriate, allowing us to minimize lag time in injury reporting and expedite the claim process.

The TeamHealth Nurse Triage Line utilizes the same number previously assigned to our Blood Borne Pathogens Hotline (877.934.0514) and will continue to accept reports of BBP exposures including needle stick injuries, providing a single process for TeamHealth employees to report all workplace injuries and exposures.

Please note that this triage line is for TeamHealth employees only. I have attached an electronic copy of the flyer above for posting or including in new hire packets as you deem appropriate.

We do not provide workers’ comp coverage to independent contractors. They may purchase their own coverage through Physicians Solutions, LLC, (and certain states may require that they have their own coverage), or they can utilize their personal health insurance. This information should be clarified in their contract – we are looking into that to be sure it is included.

To answer your question: what happens when an injured, eligible employee calls the TeamHealth Nurse Triage line? I have put together a power point training that I can provide via WebEx upon request – the following is from my notes:

They will first hear a recorded message stating that they have reached the TeamHealth Nurse Triage line. This line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for TeamHealth employees who have suffered a work related injury, illness, or exposure. If you are a TeamHealth employee who has been injured on the job, please stay on the line. They will then be asked to again confirm if they are an employee or an independent contractor. If they are an employee, the injury will be triaged. They will be prompted to ensure that their supervisor has been notified of the injury.

Then they will be directed to the appropriate level of medical care (first aid at home, urgent care or walk-in clinic, or emergency department).

Employees who have sustained a needlestick injury or other type of exposure to a bloodborne pathogen will be triaged, encouraged to follow the facility’s exposure control plan, instructed to make a courtesy call to their facility medical director to inform them of the event, and directed to appropriate follow up care. IF the employee was exposed to a patient with a KNOWN bloodborne pathogen (HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C) and they have questions about appropriate medical treatment, they will be informed of the federally funded Clinician’s Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) line, where counseling is available for no fee.

The triage nurse has the ability to email documents to the injured employee, including this pocket card (attached) with account information related to our workers’ comp policy. This allows the injured worker to provide billing info to the treating facility and prevents them from receiving invoices for their care – a common issue in the past that resulted in hours of work to correct and resolve collections notices.

Another document (also attached) that the triage nurse is able to email to the injured worker is a temporary Express Scripts prescription services ID to be provided to the pharmacy if medication is prescribed for a work-related incident. Again, this allows invoices to be billed appropriately to The Hartford, eliminating the clean-up involved should the injured worker pay for the prescription out-of-pocket.

If the injured worker is determined to be an independent contractor, then the call center will obtain their contact information if possible. They will explain that the workers’ comp triage service is for eligible TeamHealth employees only, and then refer them to the workers’ comp administrator at TeamHealth benefits if they have additional questions.

Once the call is completed, the triage nurse sends a fax to HR Benefits at Brookview with the information that Josh and I need to be able to submit a claim to The Hartford. After that, it’s business as usual.

Tresa K. Batson, MPHSr. Benefits SpecialistWorkers’ CompensationTEAMHealth265 Brookview Centre Way, Suite 400 Knoxville, TN 37919p 865.293.5287 f 865.560.7048