TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of a computational policy model for comparing the effect of compensation scheme policies on recovery after workplace injury
AU - Thompson, Jason
AU - Cruz-Gambardella, Camilo
N1 - Funding Information:
Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions. Funding was provided by arc (Grant no. DE180101411).
Funding Information:
Dr Thompson is supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award (Grant Number DE180101411). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Introduction The direct comparison of real-world workers’ compensation scheme management policies and their impact on aspects of scheme performance such as health and return to work outcomes, financial sustainability, and client experience metrics is made difficult through existing differences in scheme design that go beyond the factors of interest to the researcher or policymaker. Disentangling effects that are due purely to the result of policy and structural differences between schemes or jurisdictions to determine ‘what works’ can be difficult. Method We present a prototype policy exploration tool, ‘WorkSim’, built using an agent-based model and designed to enable workers’ compensation system managers to directly compare the effect of simulated policies on the performance of workers compensation systems constructed using agreed and transparent principles. Results The utility of the model is demonstrated through and case-study comparison of overall scheme performance metrics across 6 simple policy scenarios. Discussion Policy simulation models of the nature described can be useful tools for managers of workplace compensation and rehabilitation schemes for trialing policy and management options ahead of their real-world implementation.
AB - Introduction The direct comparison of real-world workers’ compensation scheme management policies and their impact on aspects of scheme performance such as health and return to work outcomes, financial sustainability, and client experience metrics is made difficult through existing differences in scheme design that go beyond the factors of interest to the researcher or policymaker. Disentangling effects that are due purely to the result of policy and structural differences between schemes or jurisdictions to determine ‘what works’ can be difficult. Method We present a prototype policy exploration tool, ‘WorkSim’, built using an agent-based model and designed to enable workers’ compensation system managers to directly compare the effect of simulated policies on the performance of workers compensation systems constructed using agreed and transparent principles. Results The utility of the model is demonstrated through and case-study comparison of overall scheme performance metrics across 6 simple policy scenarios. Discussion Policy simulation models of the nature described can be useful tools for managers of workplace compensation and rehabilitation schemes for trialing policy and management options ahead of their real-world implementation.
KW - Agent based model
KW - Injury
KW - Policy
KW - Rehabilitation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129709004&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10926-022-10035-w
DO - 10.1007/s10926-022-10035-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 35536432
AN - SCOPUS:85129709004
SN - 1053-0487
VL - 32
SP - 241
EP - 251
JO - Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
JF - Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
ER -