In recent years, we have seen significant private equity investment in workers’ compensation vendors. Why are they interested in workers’ compensation? What are they looking for when they make investments? At the WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference Kimberly George, Sedgwick Claims Management Services lead a panel in a discussion around investing in your workers’ compensation. The panel included: -Dave North, President and CEO, Sedgwick Claims Management Services     -Shelley Boyce, CEO, MedRisk -Jeff Livingston, Principal, Private Equity, KKR & Co.     -Jeffrey McKibben, Managing Principal, Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC The industry is fragmented and there are opportunities to
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This session at WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference highlighted program strategies from the three winners of National Underwriter P&C’s 2017 Excellence in Workers’ Compensation Risk Management Award. Nations Roof LLC Neftali Ortiz, Director of Risk Management This roofing contractor has 22 offices throughout the U.S. and has grown by 61% in revenue in just four years. Yet, while the company has been growing rapidly, claims frequency has decreased by 25%. The company’s employees are exposed to extreme risks like fatal falls and heat illness. The secrets to their safety success was a shift in focus to safety training and
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Effectively communicating the importance of risk management fundamentals in a way that business operations and leadership can understand is critical to the success of any risk manager. During a session at the WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference a panel of speakers discussed three diverse perspectives in risk management and how to effectively gain agreement across business. The panel included:  -Michele Adams, Vice President, Risk Management Services, Walt Disney World Resort(Moderator)  -Michael P. Fenlon, ARM, ARe, CPCU, Sr. Director, UPS Global Risk Management    -Steve Perroots, Vice-President, Global Claims and Occupational Health Services, Marriott International,Inc.    -Kurt Leisure, Vice President,
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Does an agent have a role in the workers’ compensation claim process? Can agents bring value to the table in resolving a benefit dispute? This session at WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference illustrated how important it is for agents to be engaged before and after a compensable accident. The panel included: Steve Coonrod, Attorney, McConnaughhay, Coonrod, Pope, Weaver & Stern, PA (moderator) Bob O’Halloran, Senior Vice President of Claims, Summit Consulting, Inc. Liz Alipio, Assistant Vice President, Zenith Insurance Company Randall T. Porcher, Attorney, Morgan & Morgan The agent has an important role before and after workers’ compensation claims.
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Whether your company self-administers its claims management, outsources, or has a bundled claims program, the quality of the claims management will have a major impact on your company’s financial performance in the short, medium, and long term. During a session at the WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference David Stills, Vice President, Global Risk Management from Walmart Stores, Inc moderated a panel of experts that included Max Koonce, Managing Director, Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Valerie Franco, Vice President of Risk Management, Lowe’s Companies, Inc. and Chantel Mottram Kvigne, Vice President, York Risk Services Group. Myth#1 People issues one less thing
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Due to an aging workforce, companies will face tremendous turnover in teams and management in the next few decades. This session at WCI’s 2017 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference highlighted employment programs, retention tools, leadership development and unique litigation claim strategies that resonate with younger demographics. The panel included: Mark Siciliano, Vice President & Managing Director, Helmsman Management Services (moderator) Teresa V. Elkins, Risk Manager, Arlington County Virginia Victoria Luna, Attorney, Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, LLP In the Workforce Twenty-four percent of the U.S. labor force is poised to retire in the next 10 years. Fifty percent of the
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At the 2017 America’s Claims Event a panel of senior claims executives talked about their insights on where claims are now and how they will evolve in the future. The panel was: Eric Brandt – Managing Director and Chief Claims Officer, Esurance (Moderator) Paul Strohfus – Vice President Claims Legal Services, WR Berkley Corporation John Shaw, Senior Vice President Claims Management, Marsh Risk & Insurance Services Mary Nasenbenny – Senior Vice President Claims, The Hartford Question: What is your view on technology and the impact it will have on claims handling? Answers: When we talked claims technology in the past
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At the 2017 America’s Claims event, a panel discussed emerging trends in claims litigation on certain issues. The panel members were all representatives of Your House Counsel: Timothy Crawley – Partner, Anderson Crawley & Burke PLCC Edward Bacon – Partner, Bacon Thornton & Palmer LLP Deana Dagner – Partner, Dagner Schulter Mitzner Weber LLC Paul Miller – Partner, Miller Christie & Kinney PC Christopher Reinkall – Partner, Doherty & Progar LLC Collateral Source Collateral source rules apply to personal injury litigation. They are designed to prevent defendants from being able to argue that medical benefits were paid by a “collateral
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At the 2017 America’s Claims Event a session discussed liability exposures from 3D printing. The speaker was Christopher Iliff, Senior Vice President with Swiss Re. 3D printing has the potential to revolutionize the manufacturing industry. It is different from other manufacturing processes in that it is additive vs subtractive. In other words, something is created by 3D printing by layers building upon layers. In traditional manufacturing things are typically created by starting with something large then reducing the size to create the product (punch press, molds, etc). The items that can be 3D printed are rapidly increasing. These include: Entire
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At the 2017 America’s Claims Event, a panel discussed the threat about cyber attacks and data breaches. The panel was: Jennifer Coughlin – Partner, Muller Coughlin Danielle Roth – Team Leader Cyber, XL Catlin Atari Soni – Senior Vice President Cyber Claims Advocacy Leader, Marsh USA Inc Cyber policies are different from other coverage in that there is both first party and third party coverage. The first party coverage is for breach response. The carrier will work with the insured to determine what happened, whether it is ongoing, and to mitigate the threat. They will also work with the client
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