The Workers’ Compensation Board is starting a new process, Business Process Re-Engineering (BPR), which is meant to improve the experience of workers injured on the job as well as employers in New York. The compensation system, while modern, was built up in previous decades and the new project will service to build a new infrastructure to use up-to-date technologies and practices.
Now that over 100 years have passed, new practices can help reinvent the current workers compensation system. The goal is to improve the service injured workers receive and to meet certain goals in the process. A proposal was released by the Board in April 2012 that outlined a plan to hire a vendor to assist the Board and the stakeholders of the workers compensation system. The firm Deloitte was subsequently hired to assist with the re-engineering project.
Bringing in an outside party will help broaden the perspective of the processes and help to retain impartiality. The first phase of the project will involve a thorough analysis of the system as it is and a plan for improving a future system. The Board will also gain some perspective on how the system runs as a whole and what changes will be necessary to prevent the system of reaching fundamental goals.
Stakeholder groups will be included in the revision process through various ways including in person meetings, conferences, surveys, and phone calls. There will also be a project website where individuals can send in their own thoughts and constructive ideas for improving the workers compensation system.
A final recommendation will be offered to the Board by Deloitte in mid-2014 and will become part of the Board’s guidelines for implementing the necessary changes and technologies to improve the overall system of workers compensation for injured workers and New York employers.