The NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) says eight measures remain to be completed from a 21-point action plan to improve the performance of icare, with the COVID-19 pandemic and leadership changes contributing to some delays.

The plan was issued in December 2019 following an independent compliance and performance review of the icare-managed workers’ compensation Nominal Insurer.

Actions still progressing include quarterly compliance and performance audits, with the next review deferred to the second half of this year due to icare leadership changes, SIRA says in a progress report.

“The first and second quarterly reviews conducted in February and August 2020 found some improvements in the claims performance of the Nominal Insurer, however further improvement is required,” it says.

“SIRA has deferred the quarterly reviews for the time being to allow icare’s new leadership team time to implement improvements.”

icare CEO Richard Harding started at the insurer in January and last month announced an overhaul of the leadership team, including creation of a new governance role.

The progress report says icare has taken steps to improve the quality of data submissions to SIRA, and expects to meet requirements from June or July, while the regulator will undertake a medical payment process audit late this year to determine improvement levels.

A recommendation for icare to provide small businesses with claims management service provider choice, after making changes for larger firms, is still a work in progress.

“Following delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, icare advised SIRA that it will consider this recommendation later in 2021 as part of its service model provider review,” the report says.

The independent compliance and performance review conducted by Janet Dore in 2019 included 13 recommendations. In response, SIRA released a 21-point action plan that included responses required by icare and regulator commitments.

Actions completed since the October 2020 progress update include an independent review of culture, governance and accountability. The review undertaken by PwC was released earlier this month.