Disability Management and Return to Work Support

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Short-term disability management

A well-managed, self-insured short-term disability program can save you thousands in insured premiums.

Offering a holistic approach to disability management that focuses on early intervention and regular communication, the goal of our short-term disability program is to return employees to health with an early and safe return to work.

Our multidisciplinary team includes registered nurses, occupational therapists, kinesiologists, disability management professionals, and mental health experts. We pair you with dedicated case managers to ensure your employees are receiving medically appropriate treatment. They will work collaboratively with you, your employee, and their health care team to facilitate early and safe returns to work, minimizing any potential barriers to active employment.

We offer a two-business-day turnaround time for initial claim decisions compared to the industry standard of five days. Our service standard is a commitment included in every service agreement, ensuring that your employees receive early intervention and proactive case management.

Our focus on recovery and returning employees to health helps reduce the overall duration of absences and offers collaborative services to advance claims efficiently.

Medical leave of absence (MLOA) management

Using the same holistic case management philosophy and expertise as our short-term disability program, our medical leave of absence program provides management of disability absences for employees who do not qualify for short-term disability benefits.

This offering is ideal for your:

  • Part-time employees
  • Students
  • Contract employees
  • Seasonal employees
  • Employees who have been declined for long-term disability for contractual reasons
  • Employers with Employment Insurance (EI) sick benefit programs

Long-term disability coordination concierge services

We ensure a smooth transition to the long-term disability insurance provider if your employee is diagnosed with a complex condition requiring extensive treatment and recovery. Included in our standard short-term disability offering, we notify you and your employee when it’s time to submit the long-term disability application, and we securely send our medical information to the insurance provider to support the claim decision.

Some clients prefer us to manage the full long-term disability application process, including communication with the carrier. Through our long-term disability coordination concierge services, we assist you and your employees with:

  • Completing the application forms
  • Gathering and submitting all forms and documentation to the plan provider
  • Performing all follow-ups for the long-term disability decisions
  • Supporting your employee with next steps if a claim decision is delayed or denied

Disability Management consulting services (DMCS)

Our disability management consulting services may be requested if you require ad hoc services that fit into our other offerings, such as:

  • One-time medical reviews
  • Doctor-to-doctor calls by consulting physicians from Cowan
  • Arbitration reviews
  • Third party independent assessments
  • Return to work support following a long-term disability change of definition claim closure