Marcos A. Iglesias, MD, MMM, FAAFP, FACOEM, Vice President and National Medical Director, The Hartford, lead a discussion on practical tools and techniques to help minimize employee’s disability and delayed recovery during a session at the WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference. Delayed recovery is the deviation from the happy path. Work means identity to most people. There are economic, physical, social and emotional factors that go along with getting back to the workplace. Work actually increasing our resilience and our coping mechanisms with our injury. When the injured worker is not working there are many factors that affect their
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In this session at WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference, Brittany O’Neil, Senior Policy Coordinator of the Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation, shared how the Division is leveraging electronic claims, medical, and policy data reported to the Division as required by statute (69L-7.730, F.A.C. and section 440.185, F.S.). By accessing and providing this data in different ways, such as new applications, reports, and data-applied methodologies, the Division is providing unique services to carriers, employers, and other claims-handling entities to identify where they can increase their regulatory and business performance. There are three buckets of data utilized – policy data, medical
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Most do not know that the opioid epidemic, the parallel heroin epidemic and the momentum towards marijuana legalization are all interrelated. In this session at WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference, Mark Pew, Senior Vice President at PRIUM, discussed the impact of these drugs on the workers’ compensation system and what the future holds. The mantra being used by advocates around the country is that marijuana could be the solution for the opioid epidemic. In the workers’ compensation system, there is growing acceptance that marijuana can be a viable medical treatment, which has led to payers reimbursing for cannabis in
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As injuries continue to occur and claims increase, employers are often left scratching their head as to why. That is because “Telling” is not training. Normagene Dmytriw, Senior Safety & Occupational Health Specialist, Broward County Government, Risk Management lead a discussion at the WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference. As technology improves, and becomes more readily available and affordable, employers are looking to technology to provide creative and effective learning options. Gamification advantages Fun Engaging Sense of achievement  Gamification disadvantage  Winning over objectives Difficult to translate learners game progress to objectives Costs equipment costs and software costs OSHA Novelty wears
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From medical bills, to lost productivity, to the emotional toll that an accident takes on injured employees, employers face skyrocketing costs associated with workers’ compensation claims. This panel at WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference highlighted how onsite therapy can help properly manage workplace injuries when they occur. The panel included: Jaime Sigurdsson, CEAS, Director of Workers’ Compensation, CORA Health Services, Inc. Suzanne Mayberry, Associate Leave Manager, JM Family Enterprises, Inc. Sandra Santiago, ARNP, Crew Case Manager, Carnival Cruise Lines An onsite medical program is made up of two essential elements: 1.  Prevention Pre-Injury Program Job site analysis.  Safety seminars/body
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One of the things that makes workers’ compensation such a challenge for employers and carriers is the long-tail nature of the claims. This long tail means that premiums collected today must cover losses for years to come. The rising costs of these tail claims has a significant impact on both carriers and employers in terms of cost of insurance today and future reserves. At the WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference a group discusses the financial impact of these growing liabilities on industry and provides strategies for reducing them. The speakers for this session were Matthew Cohen, VP Client Services,
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Establishing an effective return-to-work program is widely accepted as one of the most significant cost-saving measures for managing employees’ workers’ compensation injuries. This panel discussion at WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference reviewed trends in return-to-work program administration.  The panel included: Frances Ford, Co-Founder, ReEmployAbility (moderator) Nathan Hughes, Director of Risk Management, Safelite Group Jodie Massingill, Senior Manager of Casualty Claims, Sysco Corporation Patricia Rodriguez, Return-to-Work Specialist, Crum & Forster Research supports that returning employees to work through transitional duty not only provides cost containment, but it can also help reduce the incidence of depression, improve worker morale, and promote
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Advocacy has emerged as a very effective means for addressing work-related issues and the many challenges they pose. This session at WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference provided an in-depth discussion of how an advocacy approach works and the benefits it can produce.  The panel included: Max Koonce, Managing Director, Sedgwick Claims Management Services (moderator) Janice Van Allen, Senior Director, Risk Management, Walmart Stores, Inc. Stephanie Wood, Claims Manager, The Wendy’s Company Laura M. Rodgers, ARM, Senior Claims Manager, Pier 1 Imports, Inc. A workplace injury and the complexity of the workers’ compensation system can create apprehension and anxiety for
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Advances in the way the workers’ compensation industry collects analytics are rapidly changing the way we do business. In this session at WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference, Frank Pennachio, Agent at Oceanus Partners, provided a future outlook for workers’ compensation data analytics trends and how they relate to pricing. The industry is experiencing dramatic change due to technological disrupters. Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, predicted that the processing speed of a computer chip will double every two years. This has happened. We have extraordinarily fast computers and massive data storage that is essentially free. In addition, the amount of
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Workers’ compensation is a positive change-agent in the claims arena and beyond. Despite this, the workers’ compensation system is under attack. While there are certainly problems with the system, there is more good news than bad news in the system, which is a demonstrably successful benefit delivery vehicle. The system has also proven to be a successful change-agent, promoting much needed reform, particularly in the areas of medicine, safety, and rehabilitation. At the WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference a panel of experts discuss what’s right with workers compensation. The panel included: Darrell Brown, Chief Claim Officer, Sedgwick Brian Allen, Vice
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