FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information contact:
Julie Keaton at 404-847-4026
April 11, 2006
ATLANTA – Crawford & Company is pleased to announce that Crawford Claims Advantage has been rolled out to all of its Integrated Services branch offices. Crawford Claims Advantage is a new proprietary web-based application powered by e-Triage® that incorporates structured interviews into the workers’ compensation claims process.
Crawford Claims Advantage helps reduce cost and severity of workers’ compensation claims by applying internationally recognized evidence-based research to identify specific risk factors that directly impact the recovery process and formulates a best-practices approach for medical treatment customized to the injured worker. The version that has been implemented in Crawford’s Integrated Services branches also includes a new template for creating the Strategic Plans of Action. These Plans of Action are goal-oriented and quickly identify and manage issues that delay claim closure. Plans of Action also document the rationale behind every recommended action and provide evidenced-based research to substantiate those actions.
The Houston Independent School District (HISD), the largest school district in Texas, and the seventh largest in the U.S., was one of the first Crawford clients to realize the benefits of Crawford Claims Advantage. According to Tom Dolan, workers’ compensation manager for HISD, the results speak for themselves. “It is impossible to fully understand the claim without assessing the social-psychological background of the employee that directly affects the employee’s motivation to return to work. This, plus the job setting and physician support, provides the essential components to provide a meaningful plan of
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action. Crawford Claims Advantageoffers that structured mechanism to achieve ‘best claims practice’ resulting in a reduction in job absence and claims cost. Our continued success can in large measure be credited to Crawford Claims Advantage. Not just keeping track of the evolution of a claim but truly managing the process.”
Crawford Claims Advantage is part of a revolutionary new service-delivery model that the Company introduced earlier this year. The new model standardizes the workers’ compensation claims-reporting process and delivers comprehensive, consistent, and goal-oriented solutions.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Crawford & Company is the world’s largest independent provider of claims management solutions to insurance companies and self-insured entities, with a global network of more than 700 offices in 63 countries. Major service lines include property and casualty claims management, integrated claims and medical management for workers’ compensation, legal settlement administration, including class action and warranty inspections, and risk management information services. The Company’s shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbols CRDA and CRDB.
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