Jargon frequently used within workers’ compensation shapes injured employee perceptions, opinions about the system and the care they will likely receive ー eventually impacting the outcomes. At the 2018 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, Bob Wilson, President and CEO of WorkersCompensation.com, presented his thoughts on how to change this climate by emphasizing function and recovery. It is easy for cynical thoughts to creep into the minds of every stakeholder in workers’ compensation, which comes with experience, but there is also cynicism in the minds of injured workers. And rightly so. These injured workers do not know how workers’ compensation
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Session presented by: Jeffrey Austin White – Senior Vice President, Workers’ Compensation – Gallagher Bassett The pace of change in claims and risk management persists at an ever-increasing rate with disruption driven by InsurTech entities and the advanced technologies they are providing insurance operations. This session at the 2018 National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference demonstrated how insurers currently apply InsurTech and tools like artificial intelligence, highlighting their potentially disruptive impact on risk management and claims over the next three-to-five years. InsureTech is a movement, an investment in innovation in the insurance industry. Historically, the industry evolved slowly and based
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Today’s workforce is more diverse than ever. Diversity can impact why claims are filed, how they are managed and, possibly, the end result. Meanwhile, diversity, inclusion and unconscious bias play roles before an injury, during claim management and can drive trial outcomes and resolution. In this session at the 2018 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, Martine Cumbermack, Partner at Swift, Currie, McGhee and Hiers, discussed why diversity and inclusion are important in claims management. The workforce is certainly becoming more diverse. According to a BLS Reports 2017 study on labor force characteristics by race and ethnicity, the workforce is
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George Furlong – Senior Vice President, Managed Care Program Outcomes Analysis – Sedgwick Stephany A. Rockwell – Risk Manager, Risk Management Finance – JBS As workers’ compensation program success becomes increasingly dependent on how data can be used to take action, this session at the 2018 National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference takes a pragmatic look at available decision making tools. Big data is about combining multiple, disparate data sets into integrated and usable information. This allows identification of patterns, breaking down silos, and mining through large amounts of data allowing for better decision making and validating impacts of change.
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Closing long-tail claims greatly reduces immediate costs, decreases reserve requirements and diminishes collateral needs, however, not all of these claims are ripe for closing. Mitigating the impact of long-tail claims requires sound strategies for uncovering opportunities to close them when possible and properly managing them when case facts do not support their closure. In this session at the 2018 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, employers shared their strategies for managing and, when possible, closing claims that have stubbornly resisted resolution. Speakers included: Kevin Confetti, Deputy Chief Risk Officer, University of California Jennifer Saddy, Managing Director, Absence Management, American Airlines
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It is not the accident severity or the injured body part that always determines the length of time an injured worker spends away from work. It is how the injury is managed by the patient, doctor, employer and claims administrator. This session at the 2018 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference highlighted strategies for defining key stakeholders’ roles and the interaction needed for a successful return-to-work environment. Speakers included: Kathy Schroeder, Senior Director, Global Risk Management, Office Depot William Zachry, Senior Fellow, Sedgwick Institute There are many exposures driving loss time. Factors like an aging workforce, co-morbidities and opioid addiction
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Growing societal acceptance of marijuana and its increased use raise many legal and medical considerations for workers’ compensation and disability. This session at the 2018 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference provided updates and professional opinions on the legal and medical aspects of marijuana. Speakers included: Stuart Colburn, Esq., Shareholder, Downs Stanford Marcos Iglesias, MD, Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, Broadspire The Law Ten states, DC, PR and Guam have legalized recreational marijuana use and 33 states currently offer medicinal marijuana, however, it is still illegal federally. For workers’ compensation, seven states will currently preclude reimbursement and six will
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In the healthcare sector, patient data and cybersecurity are major concerns. Not only is the healthcare industry a preferred hacker target, but the management of workers’ compensation claims frequently requires sharing sensitive claimant data among service providers. This session at the 2018 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference uncovered best practices for mitigating growing insider and third-party healthcare cybersecurity risks. Speakers included: Kevin Harried, Chief Risk Officer, One Call Adam Solandor, Partner, King & Spalding, LLP Healthcare data is extremely valuable because the content of the information lends to a variety of fraud. Trends show increased sophistication of automated attacks
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At the 2018 National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference & Expo a session discussed the interplay between leave of absence laws and workers’ compensation. The speakers were: Marti Cardi, Esq – VP Product Compliance, Matrix Absence Management, Inc. Rich Montarbo, Esp – Law offices of Richard Montarbo FMLA is very challenging because it has so many explicit rules and regulations associated with in. In contrast, what makes ADA so challenging is the lack of explicit rules because it is designed to be very expansive and focus on specific scenarios. Layered on top of these two laws is a variety of
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At the 2018 National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference & Expo, a session discussed some of the key concepts that executives new to overseeing a workers’ compensation program need to understand. The speakers were: Paul Braun – Managing Director, AON Monica Manske – Senior Manager Workers’ Compensation, Rochester Regional Health Workers’ Compensation Advocacy This concept has gained a lot of traction the last few years. As an employer, your employees are your greatest asset. When they are injured on the job, how are you helping them manage the workers’ compensation claims process? How can you help the injured worker have
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