ABSTRACT
The information collected on a compensable claim from the Employer’s First Report of Injury or Disease (Wisconsin WKC12 [Revised 2/98]) includes salient aspects of the occupational injury. The injury description field in the form is interpreted through a coding structure into categories of the nature of the injury, part(s) of body affected, type of accident and source of the injury. The nature of the injury categorizes the injury description noted on the form into groupings describing the injury in medical terms like amputation, contusion or strain. The part of body field categorizes the area(s) impacted by the injury like the head, finger or wrist. The type of the accident is a categorization of how the accident occurred, such as caught between, struck by or fall. The source of the injury is a categorization of what caused the injury like equipment, hand tools or co-worker. Temporal aspects of the injury are collected on the form in the date of injury, time of day and the time the injury occurred in the shift being worked fields. Employer and insurer information is included on the form in the name, mailing address and Fein number fields. Employee information is collected regarding the name, age, gender and employee length of tenure with the current employer. The days of healing period for the injury is calculated by subtracting the date of return to work following the injury from the last day worked. This computation provides an
indication of the extent of the injury. Additionally, the permanency of the injury is noted in the medical evaluation of the injury as well as the disabling nature of the injury as total or partial. As a claim is paid, information regarding the indemnity cost of that claim is associated with the claim and tracked to ensure that claims agreed to be compensable or deemed by litigation to be compensable are paid appropriately. Litigated claims collect information regarding the hearing scheduling and settlement time periods associated with the legal administration of each claim as well the legal outcome.
