Greenville County Schools
Greenville, South Carolina
Fewer Lost-Time Claims, Return-to-Work, and High Marks in
Medical Management Develop an A+ Workers’ Compensation Program.
Greenville County Schools (GCS), located in upstate
South Carolina, is the largest public school district in the
state and the 45th largest in the nation. The district has
approximately 10,000 employees, more than 72,000
students, and operates some 100 schools and centers.
October 2014
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PartnershiP results
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Nearly 50% fewer lost-time claims
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Reduced lost-time claim costs
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64% savings on billed medical charges
GCS earned district-wide National Accreditation from the AdvancED Accreditation Commission, which recognized GCS as one
of the highest quality school systems in the country. It’s the state leader in school choice, featuring schools of various sizes in
urban, suburban, and rural settings, and magnet academies offering specialized studies in areas such as communications arts,
languages, the arts, science, and mathematics.
An elemental aspect of how the district operates, GCS is extremely involved in its communities. Its Parent-Teacher Associations
and local businesses actively provide hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours each year, as well as millions of dollars in
financial support, to help the school system fulfill its mission to provide a well-rounded education to every student.
A self-insured organization, GCS is also committed to its many employees and knows the importance of keeping them safe and
at work. In 2006, the school system partnered with PMA Management Corp., a PMA Companies third-party administrator, to
help manage its workers’ compensation program—and today it’s scoring A+ marks across the board.
Focusing on Improvement
Reducing Lost-Time Claims
Along with Jamie McCutcheon, the district’s Director of
Payroll & Insurance Services, the GCS/PMA team renewed its
focus on managing the entire workers’ compensation program
by employing a “holistic” approach. It began with PMA Risk
Control providing risk assessments and safety training for
key departments. With a better understanding of the issues
impacting its program, the district was able to prepare a plan
to target key areas: reducing lost-time claims and improving
medical management.
In past policy years, GCS experienced frequent lost-time
claims because of limited awareness of modified duty,
resulting in higher costs to the district’s workers’
compensation program. The GCS and PMA team sought a
better understanding of the loss costs through careful analysis
of the claims data. From the analysis, the district prepared
strategies to achieve better results.
“GCS had a strong program to begin with,” says Keith
Brown, Account Executive, PMA Management Corp.
“But things really began ramping up when the district hired
Kayle Brown as its Workers’ Compensation Coordinator
in 2010.” Kayle immediately partnered with PMA to focus on
key improvement areas, including reducing lost-time claims,
managing care for injured workers, and developing light-duty
job opportunities so injured workers could stay on the job or
return to work sooner.
Reducing the overall claim frequency helped reduce other
costs for the district’s program, at the same time the student
population increased in the county. The GCS and PMA team
sought other means of reducing workers’ compensation costs,
including securing thousands of dollars in subrogation and
second injury fund recoveries.
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Managing Care for Better Outcomes
“The administration of our self-insured workers’
GCS knows the value of quality care and appreciates that it
can lead to better outcomes for its injured workers and
reduced claims costs for the district. In fact, Kayle got actively
involved with determining which medical providers could best
serve her injured workers.
compensation program requires a committed
partnership. As our third-party administrator,
PMA is our partner in supporting the district’s
procedures, adapting to process improvement
“Kayle was willing to review the doctors who were handling
the initial medical treatments and she discovered that they
were relying solely on the injured workers to determine
their work status,” says Ronda Rummage, Regional Claims
Supervisor, PMA Management Corp.
changes, and achieving our goal of reduced
workers’ compensation costs.”
—Jamie McCutcheon
Director of Payroll & Insurance Services,
Greenville County Schools
In short order, Kayle sought a partnership with treatment
facilities that understood occupational injuries. She also
provided the physicians with the information necessary to
review job tasks. Now, treating physicians are determining
work status based directly on an employee’s condition and
his or her ability to perform the specific tasks of the job.
Today, the district’s lost-time claims frequency is down nearly
50%, and the majority of its lost-time claims—some 70%—
are in the $0 to $5,000 cost range. And in the 2014 policy
year, so far all lost-time claims have been closed in three
months or less, which is a milestone achievement for GCS.
GCS is also making use of PMA’s Nurse Case Management
program with certain claims. When injuries are more serious,
they are finding early nurse intervention helps to initiate care
more quickly, develop a more appropriate course of treatment,
and speed up the recovery process.
So How Are They Doing It?
Returning to Work on Light Duty
In concert with Nurse Case Management, when injured
workers require increasingly complex and expensive
interventions—such as surgery and medication—PMA
medical bill reviewers examine the district’s medical bills
to ensure appropriate treatments and fees for care. In the
last four years (7/1/2010 – 7/1/2014) alone, PMA’s
medical bill review team has saved GCS 64% on its billed
medical charges.
Kayle initiated a thorough team review of the district’s past
lost-time claims, and the analysis revealed a definitive loss
leader—the transportation department. Armed with this
information and thorough accident investigation forms, a
process which had recently been introduced to the district,
Kayle had everything she needed.
“Kayle knew just where to get started,” adds Keith Brown.
“Due to DOT regulations, employees on light-duty were not
allowed to return to work on a school bus. Addressing the
issue with the Director of Transportation, light-duty positions
were created that enabled injured bus drivers and aides to
remain on the payroll while recovering.”
Medical Cost Containment Savings
64+36
Total Paid vs. Savings
As bus drivers and aides were allowed to temporarily return
to work, the total number of lost-time claims dropped
significantly.
Now, light-duty opportunities are also being considered for
other departments across the district.
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Total Paid
36%
Total Saved
64%
Incorporating Safety into Next Steps
PMA recently partnered with GCS to sponsor its Safety School
Award Banner program, which has been successful so far.
“We have the opportunity to visit the schools and present the
safety awards,” says Keith Brown. “It’s another opportunity
for us to better get to know the district’s many employees and
work environments—and that familiarity can help us do even
more to improve their program.”
greenville county schools safety award
Presented to Blue Ridge Middle School for the 2012–2013 school year.
About PMA Companies
PMA Companies (www.pmacompanies.com) provides risk management solutions and services in the U.S., specializing in
workers’ compensation and offering property and casualty insurance. A member of Old Republic Companies, PMA Companies
is headquartered in Blue Bell, PA.
Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE: ORI) is one of the nation’s 50 largest publicly held insurance organizations.
PMA Companies includes:
PMA Insurance Group, specializing in workers’ compensation, and providing other commercial property & casualty
insurance products
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PMA Management Corp. and PMA Management Corp. of New England, providing results-driven TPA and Risk
Services specializing in workers’ compensation and liability
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