February 6-12 is National Burn Awareness Week for 2022. Held each year, during the first full week of February, this event is sponsored by the American Burn Association to promote fire safety and burn prevention throughout the United States. This issue is especially important in workers’ compensation and risk management, where burn injuries seriously impact the health of workers.

By some estimates, work-related burn injuries account for up to 45% of all burns treated. These injuries are often catastrophic in nature and require highly specialized care management to achieve positive patient outcomes. Paradigm delivers a value-driven approach to catastrophic burn injury—one that is built on clinical expertise and collaboration, including a strong relationship with the Boston-Harvard Burn Injury Model System (BHBIMS).

Paradigm Chief Medical Officer, Michael Choo, MD, has been an active advisory member for BHBIMS for years, and recently agreed to continue serving in this role through 2027. This key relationship contributes significantly to Paradigm’s understanding of burn injuries, while connecting patients to evidence-based information, as well as a supportive community that positively impacts outcomes.

What’s new in catastrophic claim management for burn injuries
Paradigm is committed to furthering the state of burn injury research in the area of catastrophic claim management. Last year, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) collaborated with Paradigm and Dr. Choo to analyze factors contributing to high medical costs from burn-related claims. Findings from this comprehensive report indicated:

• There have been reductions in fatalities and improving survival rates for injured workers.
• Injured workers with high-severity burn claims tend to come from the manufacturing and contracting industries.
• Acute inpatient hospital facility payments are a major cost driver for burn injuries.
• Physiological and psychological problems remain common, long-lasting issues for burn survivors, and require special attention.

The study concluded that return to work is a realistic outcome, even for injured workers who have suffered severe burn injuries.

Workplace burn injuries: serious costs for serious needs
Fires and burns account for billions of dollars in productivity losses and treatment costs each year, according to the National Business Group on Health. Complications associated with burn injuries are common, even when there is early burn management, causing treatment costs to grow exponentially. Understanding the causes and cost drivers for workplace burn injuries is critical to value-based care management, which couples the best evidence-based treatments and interventions—often resulting in the return of affected workers to their family and job.

Even low-intensity treatment for moderate burns with complications can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. For catastrophic burns without complications, costs per claim regularly go well beyond $1 million. For severe burns with complications, it can cost more than $10 million to treat and manage such challenging claims and cases.

Some of the most common burn-related complications include disfigurement, scarring, or contracture, which occur in the majority of cases. Additional complications include psychological problems, skin breakdown, infections, and delayed wound healing. These issues can occur alone, concurrently, or in succession over the course of recovery, compounding costs significantly over time.

Paradigm’s HERO Catastrophic^SM solution, with our data-driven Systematic Care Management^SM model, achieves better outcomes for burn-related workplace injuries at significant cost savings. According to a 2020 independent study, Paradigm achieved a 32% average savings in total medical costs—$1,142,961 per claim—for catastrophic injury claims, compared to industry benchmarks. Discover more about our suite of risk products, including our newly launched HERO Severe^SM solution, which deliver guaranteed outcomes for a wide range of life-altering injuries.

Help us promote burn awareness and prevention
The 2022 theme for National Burn Awareness Week is “Burning Issues in the Kitchen,” which can be just as important in the workplace as it is at home. All week, participants can use #NBAW and share a cooking safety tip! Paradigm will be raising awareness on our social media channels, and you can support us by liking and sharing our posts.

Learn more about Paradigm’s clinical collaborations across a wide range of specialties.