How Nurse Triage Phone Lines Keep Drivers Safe And Injury Claim Costs Down

Nurse triage phone lines are quickly becoming the best solution for fleets and drivers to be treated quickly and safely if feeling sick or after a workplace accident.

Each year, millions of truck drivers spend thousands of hours behind the wheel keeping the economy moving.

These drivers not only face the chance of being injured if involved in one of the 116,000 annual crashes, but also face the unrecorded number of workplace injuries that occur as they do their job. 

These fears are compounded with the prevalence of COVID-19 and the approaching flu season leading to increased concern about sending drivers to a hospital for an illness or workplace injury.

Too often, truck drivers are pushing on through illnesses concerning themselves with their work schedules and loads instead of their health.

How do drivers know if what they have is a seasonal allergy, a cold or COVID-19? How can they get treated or checked out?

Nurse triage phone lines are quickly becoming the best solution for fleets and drivers to be treated quickly and safely if feeling sick or after a workplace accident.

 

What is a nurse triage?

A triage nurse is the first point of clinical contact for patients visiting an ER and is a registered nurse positioned in an emergency room or other facility that is responsible for assessing patients calling in and determining their level of need for medical assistance.

The criteria used to evaluate a patient include:

• the type of injury, illness or cause for concern
• severity
• symptoms
• patient explanation of emergency, and
• vital signs

Responsibilities of a triage nurse include:

• performing patient assessment
• reassessing patients who are waiting
• initiating emergency treatment (if necessary)
• sorting patients into priority groups according to guidelines
• communicating status of patients to doctors and nurses

 

How Nurse Triage Can Lower Your Claim Cost

The cost of an injury claim directly impacts the cost of worker’s compensation insurance. The faster an injury claim can be completed, the lower the costs of the claim will be.

To reduce lost time of reporting the injury claim, encourage your drivers to get the injury claim process going immediately by utilizing a nurse triage.

When an injury occurs, your driver calls the nurse triage phone number to speak with a trained nurse. From there, the nurse can direct the driver to self-administer first aid or recommend a designated medical care facility. 

At the conclusion of the call, the claim is immediately reported to the motor carrier, insurance company, and treating medical facility. 

Check out our industry library resources of 15 videos, 2 ebooks, industry links, and CNS In The News content.

Additionally, we recommend creating a strict guideline where injuries are required to be reported immediately as this can keep claim costs low.

Additional benefits of a nurse triage, include:

• cutting down on reporting time to the insurer 
• organizing evidence and documentation to prevent fraud
• providing employers with a simple and affordable way to report injuries that occur from or during work
• putting employees in insured networks and helping them avoid expensive ER visits
• helping the carrier gather information and data regarding injuries and accidents

 

Have an illness and want to avoid busy Doctor’s offices or medical facilities?

Start your customized health plan to meet your business needs and keep your employees healthy and safe.

You can call the CNS’ Occupational Medicine team with questions about nurse triage phone lines and telemedicine or to schedule a CNS Telemedicine appointment at 888.260.9448.

Our goal is to get you or your employees well quickly and safely so you or they can return to work fully recovered.