Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER JANUARY 2019 8 NEWS ere are many factors causing an increase in disability claims in Canada including an aging population and increasing in- stances of mental health issues. Group benefits (GB) carriers have an opportunity to develop innovative solutions that will help with prevention and im- prove disability outcomes. Improving access to care: Improving access to care is in- tegral to both prevention efforts and returning employees to full health and work. Sun Life is in- novating in several ways in this space: Health-care system navi- gation: Sun Life has partnered with a health-care navigation provider to offer employees on disability one-on-one support, accelerated access to physicians and specialists, and guidance though their treatment and recovery. Virtual care & Virtual Cog- nitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): To help overcome bar- riers to treatment such as long wait times and travel, Sun Life launched the first Canada-wide virtual care network. Pharmacogenomics: Phar- macogenomics is the study of how genes affect a person's response to different medica- tions. Sun Life has partnered with one of Canada's leading mental health research institu- tions in a study focused on using personalized medicine, to help facilitate faster, more effective mental health treatment. Big data: Data has a role to play in disability innovation, but it is only useful when used to identify causes/drives and treat- ment options for the member, employer or industry. For plan members, Sun Life is now offer- ing Best Doctors' Oncology In- sight through extended health- care plans. With Oncology Insight, members facing cancer diagnoses can request a medical opinion by an expert oncologist who reviews medical records, retests pathology results, and reviews the latest clinical re- search using augmented intel- ligence from IBM Watson for Oncology. After thorough case review, the Best Doctors expert oncologist validates the diagno- sis and provides the patient with evidence-based, personalized treatment recommendations. ese innovations are just the beginning, as Sun Life continues to pioneer new and exciting ab- sence management solutions. e importance of employer-employee trust and education when dealing with disability management: Disability can be a sensitive sub- ject in the workplace. It is im- portant the work environment includes trust, education and open communication between employers and employees where disability is concerned. Improving employer edu- cation and reducing stigma around topics such as mental health and feelings of isolation is necessary to foster a healthy workforce, and helps ensure Canadians have access to the care they need. Another opportunity for ed- ucation in this space is chang- ing the common misconception that returning to work is always an "all or nothing" proposition. GB carriers can help by educat- ing employers and employees on the many accommodation and return-to-work options that fall between "fully at work" and "fully disabled." It is when the employer and employee both act in good faith and work together towards a common goal — returning the employee to full health and back to work — that we see absence management services work most effectively. To find out more about our solutions, visit www.sunlife.ca/ carrythetorch. Improving access to care through innovation "ere is a lot of power and there is a lot of choice in the hands of employers. It's not just 'Well, there's a system, it's impacting my people, it's impacting my dis- ability rate and I'm passive about this.' Employers don't need to be passive." As for employees who may fear participating in virtual care due to privacy issues, it is "extremely secure," said Allen. "Personal health information is one of the most sensitive types of information." Data availability can help drive decisions, but it needs to be ac- tionable and applicable, said Aiken. "ere's a tremendous amount of data out here," he said. "Data is data unless you know how to bring it all together… Data isn't valuable unless you actually do something with it." To many, data is the be all and end all, but that is simply not the case, said Amell. "Data, in turn, leads to informa- tion. Information, in turn, leads to knowledge, which in turn leads to insight, which in turn leads to ac- tion if it's done and actioned ap- propriately," he said. "But you need to make sense of it all. You have to have good capa- bilities with regards to aggregat- ing the data, using common iden- tifiers across the board." Correlating productivity with the health experience of staff is a solid first step for employers seek- ing to leverage data, according to Amell. "As you peel back layers of the onion around interpersonal re- lationships between the super- visors and the employers, and those microcultures that exist within larger parts of the orga- nization… you begin to get to the point whereby you can dive pretty deep within." Striving after a holistic under- standing of wellness is vital, said Allen. "This is critically important. This is not an off-the-side-of- your-desk type of thing," she said. "is isn't just something that is interesting to attend a conference and understand." "Understanding the needs, the drivers, the opportunities, the trend — not of Canada, but of company X, of division Y — so you don't waste time, you don't waste money, you don't do things that are not going to help people. Because we all agree that we need to move forward from a personal medicine point of view, but also from an organizational point of view." Organizational data can be broken down by division, depart- ment, manager and shift, said Rudner. "Some of that data may reveal some very real trends," he said. "If 80 per cent of the people in one department have gone off on leave, maybe the manager is at fault, or at least is a part of the problem. So it's not really related to disability treatment, but it may help employers identify where there are issues. And I guess that's one form of prevention right there." Focus on prevention In the future, employers should shift their mindset to focus on a concept of disability prevention rather than simply disability man- agement, said Amell. "It's very much focusing on the concept of fitness for duty," he said. "How fit are people truly? And what can we do to control and prevent and reduce the risk over time? Because, let's face it, chronic disease — and I'm including anxi- ety and depression here given the relatively large number of people impacted by that — are signifi- cant issues driving Canadians. And it's impacting their disability experience." Focusing on diet, exercise and overall fitness is crucial to- wards health and well-being, said Amell. "In focusing on improving that — those well-being invest- ments — earlier on, we'll reduce the impact of work disability, of temporary work disability down the line, and help people return to work much quicker, or in fact stay engaged through focusing on stay-at-work programs." Total prevention, education and simplification will help the insurance industry, according to Aiken. "We all know that we can't pre- vent it all," he said. "When we build a digital so- lution, that solution needs to be easy. You're already working with someone who is not well. If it's complex, they won't engage." Adopting a two-pronged strat- egy around both prevention and support will need to be a part of any employer response, said Allen. "Don't assume that the prob- lems of the past are the problems of the present or will be in the fu- ture," she said. Employers must continuously have open minds and be aware that there are solutions that can help them with this, according to Allen. "at whole idea of being pas- sive doesn't apply anymore," she said. "Employers have a lot of power, a lot of positive control. ere are a lot of tools that are available to them through a number of differ- ent providers to enable them to solve problems." Tyler Amell, CoreHealth Technologies Holistic understanding vital MENTAL HEALTH < pg. 7 Paula Allen, Morneau Shepell Mike Aiken, Sun Life Financial Stuart Rudner, Rudner Law "Employers have a lot of power, a lot of positive control. ere are a lot of tools that are available to them to enable them to solve problems."

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