February 24, 2021
Doubleplay: OLD DOGS SHOULD PLAY MORE BASEBALL!
Dear Client:
So much in life can be best illustrated by metaphors and symbolism. We see these techniques used in movies, music, art and even social media. The same could be said for Workers’ Comp.
The Old Dog Part
Many of us regularly refer to tough, ugly cases that linger and gum up our caseloads as “old dogs.” We often classify them as such because they have lots of issues. They may have multiple dates of injury, numerous AME reports, many surgeries, comorbidities, secondary injuries and maybe even excessive opioid use. And more likely than not–they also have a very aggressive applicants’ attorney. They make up 10% of an examiner’s case load costing 70% of that case load’s expenditure.
This is a painful sort of case for an examiner to tackle alone because whenever it is touched, it feels winless. It has that brick-wall effect. It can be a lonely world for a claims representative (even with a fine defense attorney) because just touching it seems to suck the life out of you. So, inevitably, the case tends to sit in the file (seemingly forever).
The Baseball Part
If you haven’t noticed, baseball is a game of strategy. We all know the double play if we’ve ever watched a baseball game. Most often the batted ball is picked up by the short stop, thrown to second base for one out, and then to first base for a second out. Double play! It’s a two for one deal; two outs but just one play. It’s an enormous gain by the defense.
Here you can watch a few of the craziest double plays that have happened in major league baseball:
Here at Ingber & Weinberg, LLP, we have a formidable Doubleplay service for tackling the worst workers’ compensation injury cases (old dogs). We pull them forward into the light of day. We make moving the case towards closure creative (and even fun).
The key concept here is TEAM. The claims examiner, the defense attorney, the supervisor and maybe even the manager will all work together to create a synergistic effect. Nurse case managers, return to work specialists, and rehab professionals can also play an important role too.
So maybe it’s time to get your old dogs out on the field playing a little baseball. Give us a call or email us so we can share more about the specifics of how our Doubleplay program can work for you.
Ingber & Weinberg, LLP
