Return to work and independence is the healthiest outcome for Alberta workers hurt on the job. We want to create a shared foundation of knowledge, tools and other supports so injured workers and their employers can take charge in recovery and return to work.
We took the time to better understand the challenges that small-sized and medium-sized employers face in effectively managing workplace injuries. To support them, we created a simple and user-friendly digital disability management toolkit in our myWCB employer mobile app and myWCB employer portal. This toolkit helps employers understand their responsibilities in the event of a workplace injury and offers simple guidance for crafting safe and timely return-to-work plans for the most common types of injuries, like strains and sprains.
We continue to use technology to find new ways to improve our services for workers. We used machine learning technology to implement processes that guide claims from the initial review to the right case management support, making sure our clients get the help they need based on how long their recovery and return to work are expected to take. By matching workers with complex injuries to more experienced team members at the right time, we are able to tailor their care plan to better meet their individual needs. Connecting clients with the right supports at the right time ensures they have a better recovery experience so they can get back to work and life.
We added intuitive self-management capabilities to the myWCB worker mobile app, giving workers the ability to provide updates and receive just-in-time information, education and prompts to support their recovery. Within the app, workers can share feedback on how they’re doing in physiotherapy, share modified work ideas and access other important information at a time that’s convenient for them. Workers can now provide and access more detailed and helpful claim information than ever before.
With the addition of these services, workers can more fully participate in their recovery and return to work. Our enhancements to the app added value for workers, leading to a 40% increase in the number of new workers registered to use the app (exceeding our goal of 30%) compared to 2023.
We implemented new features in our employer mobile app and portal to give employers more options to manage their business with us. Employers can now easily update their seasonal coverage and make adjustments to their premium payment plans. They also have new tools at their fingertips to help them navigate workplace injuries and access resources like the Occupational Injury Service clinic locator, which helps them find effective and timely care for their workers. With services like these, we saw in-app transactions increase by 78% compared to 2023.
The employment landscape is changing. To help workers adapt and find jobs in an evolving labour market that demands new and different skills, we are collaborating with employers and industry partners. Through this teamwork, we’re identifying new career paths and supports that provide efficient upskilling for workers who cannot return to their pre-accident employment.
In 2024, we focused on developing creative strategies to help workers over 50 years of age achieve positive re-employment outcomes. Historically, we have seen that workers who are injured at a later stage in their career may experience a longer recovery and more challenges returning to work. These challenges can have significant negative impacts on their health and retirement. By reviewing prior claims, we were able to identify success factors and develop new, proactive supports for mature workers who were not able to return to their same job or employer after their injury.
Utilizing the collective expertise of our partners and employers in the construction and trucking industries, we collaborated on creative return-to-work opportunities and identified the importance of engaging these workers early on in their recovery. For workers who are not able to return to their date-of-accident employer, early skills development, like computer training, and transitional support workshops helped them prepare for re-employment even before they began their search for a new job. Our efforts helped 88% of workers aged 50 and over from the construction and trucking industries secure new employment or find a suitable job lead by the end of their supported job search. At the heart of every successful re-employment story is an individual striving to regain normalcy and stability in their life, underscoring the critical importance of these services.
Together with our service providers who support return-to-work programs, we completed initial work on the development of a new platform to enhance service referrals and expedite information sharing. We identified and captured high-level business and technical requirements for the platform, with plans for implementation in 2026. Ultimately, this platform will streamline the efforts of our claim owners and service providers and improve the timeliness of service and care for our clients.
As the awareness and pervasiveness of mental health challenges grow, we expect the number of psychological injury claims will continue to trend upward. We want to ensure workers get access to the right treatment and services to help them recover from psychological injuries. We are committed to ongoing collaboration with our clients and partners and investing in education and supports for our staff.
We have partnered with employers to improve return-to-work outcomes for workers with psychological injuries. By aligning a worker’s abilities with suitable modified work opportunities, we can help them get back to work with the right supports in place. We have expanded the use of our job demands analysis tool, which allows employers to capture the psychosocial and cognitive demands of a specific job. Together, we use this information to better understand job demands and identify appropriate accommodations. Establishing a shared understanding of work requirements and options helps promote collaboration during the creation of effective rehabilitation plans. Over 600 employers received training on the tool, and 734 job demands analyses were completed in 2024, up from just 63 in 2023.
We are working with learners in the field of psychology to create a better understanding of workplace psychological injury and the importance of return to work. Our team at Millard Health achieved its five-year accreditation with the Canadian Psychological Association as part of the Edmonton Cross-Specialty Psychology Residency program. This makes Millard Health one of only three accredited programs in Alberta.
We also expanded partnerships with the University of Alberta, MacEwan University and the Edmonton Health and Counselling Psychology Residency Consortium to offer more residency and internship opportunities at Millard Health. Through these partnerships, we helped 12 psychology students gain valuable experience with workplace psychological injuries and see first-hand the value of a safe and supported return to work for these clients.
Rapidly advancing technologies hold the power to provide better, faster and stronger services to Alberta workers and employers. We’re focused on ensuring our staff have the right tools and the right information to provide the best services to our clients.
We are exploring how generative artificial intelligence can be used to support our frontline staff in delivering a better client experience. Our new claims contact centre virtual coach is a tool that allows staff to quickly retrieve information from procedures, reducing the amount of time spent searching for accurate answers to our clients’ questions. After extensive testing, we plan to expand the use of this tool within the claims contact centre and to our technical support teams in 2025. This will save clients time and improve their experience.
We are unlocking the potential of decades of case management data to improve return-to-work outcomes and service to clients through machine learning. In 2024, we built machine learning models to help workers find more suitable job matches when they were unable to return to their pre-accident employment. We also used these models to add an extra layer of assurance to compensation processes and to match injured workers to team members with the most appropriate skills and experience for their needs. By better understanding when and where additional support or assurance is needed, we are able to provide better service to the people in our care.
Keeping our systems safe and secure is a team effort. To reinforce our safeguards, we delivered training that equips our staff with essential knowledge about cybersecurity. As part of our organization’s data protection strategy, we are also implementing a new tool that will help us better maintain secure access to data, systems and infrastructure. With these enhancements, we are minimizing risk and ensuring stability and security of our data, providing greater peace of mind for our clients.
We are modernizing how we process large amounts of data and execute tasks to support a more efficient and sustainable claims management system. These processes must run smoothly to minimize system disruptions that could impact our services. In 2024, we analyzed the current state of these processes and identified improvement opportunities to meet our current and future needs, with this work continuing into 2025. Through ongoing risk mitigation efforts, we are positioning ourselves for future enhancements while safeguarding the reliability of our business-critical tools.
The financial sustainability of the workers’ compensation system is an essential part of our mandate. We need to have the resources available to fund the current and future costs of workplace illnesses and injuries in the province. Financial sustainability ensures we are able to deliver the services and supports people need when they have been impacted by a workplace injury or illness.
We also recognize that our important work would not be possible without the efforts of our dedicated staff. Our employees need to be engaged, knowledgeable and proficient to provide excellent services to our clients.
To support a sustainable workers’ compensation system, our Finance, claims management and Underwriting teams collaborated to identify and analyze trends and opportunities related to the costs of long-term injuries. Through their combined efforts, we developed strategies to manage and mitigate risks associated with economic loss payments and other key long-term benefit categories. This work helps us better understand and safeguard the Accident Fund from volatility and ensures sustainable funding for the current and future costs of workplace injuries in Alberta.
An engaged workforce means our clients interact with staff who are committed to our common good purpose and motivated to provide Alberta workers and employers with exceptional client service. In 2024, we focused on enhancing employee engagement and organizational growth. We began by revamping our employee engagement program to gain a more complete and meaningful understanding of our workplace experience. This is an essential and powerful means to attract, retain and develop talent. Additionally, we created a talent strategy focused on targeted recruitment for in-demand roles. Based on learnings from an initial job redesign, we are piloting one of two positions (with the second to follow in 2025). These pilots will help us better understand aspects of each role and their connections to employee satisfaction and client service outcomes.