Cost management comes to comp. (workers compensation)

Technique takes a turn in new area

TORONTO - Soaring health care costs forced employers to open the parachute of managed care, and employers' skyrocketing costs in the workers compensation arena are now causing many to also consider jettisoning traditional approaches to workers compensation.

A new industry of cost management firms, old and new, is gearing up to chart the flight paths of corporate America in the workers comp domain.

A panel of employers and experts at the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.'s annual conference in Toronto last week told risk managers to expect greater efficiencies and savings from a managed care approach to workers comp. But they also warned that, just as in managed care on the medical benefits side, weak programs are out there and employers must not be timid about what they demand of the new programs.

Workers comp claims …