For nearly 30 years, Paradigm has been committed to improving the lives of injured workers and their families as they face extraordinary health and life challenges. Our entire team remains focused on this mission through the uncertain times as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

At Paradigm, the health and safety of our employees, injured workers, industry colleagues, and communities are paramount. As COVID-19 continues to impact all aspects of our lives, we’ve taken significant steps as a business to transform how we use our unique clinical expertise to meet the challenging health care needs of this global pandemic.

As the leading clinical experts in the workers’ compensation industry, we have rapidly aligned our business to serve as the go-to resource for COVID-19-related issues for clients. We developed innovative programs to aid in COVID-19 recovery plans for injured workers – across all levels of severity and case types – from triage and management of the toughest COVID-19 cases through return to work. Our goal is to help our clients navigate the additional challenges they face while dealing with COVID-19.

We have implemented the following programs and solutions to ensure that we are able to provide uninterrupted service to our clients, safe and attentive care to injured workers, and support and safety to our own Paradigm team as we make our way through COVID-19 together.

Paradigm pandemic clinical management program

Paradigm has launched the Paradigm Pandemic Clinical Management Program which is a first-of-its-kind solution to give injured workers with COVID-19—and their families—the very best chance at an optimal recovery. This clinical management program is designed to assist injured workers who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 as a primary diagnosis, as well as those who have a catastrophic or complex injury compounded by a COVID-19 diagnosis. Using clinical resources that span Paradigm’s Catastrophic Care Management and Complex Care Solutions divisions, care management teams can support COVID-19 patients through their diagnosis and recovery, regardless of severity.

COVID-related clinical expertise

We have an extensive network of Paradigm Medical Directors who offer specialty expertise and credentials in the clinical issues most commonly associated with COVID-19, including infectious disease, pulmonology, cardiology, critical care, physical medicine, and neurorehabilitation. Through Paradigm’s Pandemic Clinical Management Program for COVID-19, Medical Directors are available to guide care plans and consult with treating providers. Recently, some of our Medical Directors who specialize in these areas, assembled for a webinar to discuss COVID-19 and the implications for workers’ compensation patients, both as a complication to a workplace injury and as a primary occupational diagnosis. Paradigm Medical Directors are uniquely positioned to connect with treating providers to obtain injured worker updates. They are also available to conduct doctor-to-doctor consultations to guide care plans that are critical to advancing effective care and outcomes.

24/7 Telephonic nurse triage services

We have enhanced our 24/7 Nurse Triage service to handle COVID-19 specific questions and risk identification, implementing clinical guidelines and training to enable nurses to handle these emerging calls. For organizations not currently using this service, a COVID-19 specific triage service is available to use through the duration of the crisis. Paradigm has been providing 24/7 nurse triage services for over a decade and has a track record of providing immediate clinical expertise and excellent customer service.

Frontline clinical staff safety, training, and support

Paradigm has implemented training and tools for our Field Case Managers and Network Managers to assess injured worker risk of COVID-19, as well as protocols to help them facilitate follow up by treating providers. In light of restricted access to health care providers and the increasing number of mandatory stay at home orders by state and local governments, we are using telephonic and video channels to minimize disruptions to care management, as well as stay connected with injured workers. Our practices are consistent with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services guidelines and utilize HIPAA compliant tools as much as possible.

Provider access and collaboration

Our Specialty Networks and care management teams are collaborating closely with providers to ensure patient safety and provider access during COVID-19. Paradigm care management teams can support COVID-19 patients through their diagnosis and recovery, regardless of severity, by using clinical resources that span Paradigm’s Catastrophic Care Management and Complex Care Solutions divisions. In terms of patient safety, we have implemented pre-screening processes, remote check-in and spacing protocols, isolation rooms, telemedicine, and post-acute care infection control programs. We are closely following the best practices of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which recently recommended that orthopedic surgeons postpone elective surgeries, as well as provide a three-tiered approach in evaluating procedure urgency. We have found that 90%+ of our in-network providers remain open and are actively scheduling orthopedic exams and essential surgeries.

We also have widely available access to post-acute care providers, as the overwhelming majority remain open to admissions at this time. Post-acute care program clients can be assured that we are in constant contact with these network providers, as well as the patients accessing the program.

Return to workplace programs

As part of our recovery support for clients with return-to-workplace programs, we are keeping our employees safe upon return to work during the pandemic. We have set protocols to do temperature checks and basic on-site screenings of employees to enable a safe and organized return to the workplace. For employees that do not pass the onsite screening, we will offer telephonic triage. We are also providing simple access to a physician via telemedicine for employees that request or require this service post-triage.

Data-informed risk identification

In our Catastrophic Care Management division, we are using our deep clinical data in combination with a geographic overlay of COVID-19 outbreak hot spots to identify injured workers under our management who are most at-risk for COVID-19 complications severity. Our team has implemented heightened surveillance and management plans for these injured workers.

Paradigm remains committed to the critical work of helping injured workers and their families in time of greatest need. During this global health crisis, we are dedicated to working together as a team to support and care for our injured workers, partners, clients, internal staff, and communities. We welcome your feedback on how we can continue to best serve you.