At the 2016 National Workers’ Compensation & Disabilty Conference, a panel discussed using an advocacy approach to workers’ compensation claims management. The panel was: Denise Algire – Director Managed Care & Disability Corporate Risk, Albertsons Companies Scott Daniels – Director of Disability, Comcast William Wainscott – Manager Workers’ Compensation & Occupational Health, International Paper Kimberly George – Senior Vice President, Senior Healthcare Advisor, Sedgwick What is Advocacy? Ultimately, advocacy is about taking care of people. As employers, your workforce is your most valuable asset. The advocacy approach to workers’ compensation claims handling focuses on the experience of the consumer, who
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There is an industry consensus that shifting away from fee-for-service payments for medical treatment to value-based care will benefit workers’ compensation by linking medical-provider pay to patient outcomes. In this session at the 2016 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, early adopters of values-based models explained their strategies, challenges encountered and results obtained. Speakers included: Robert Evans, VP of Repricing Solutions, Rising Medical Solutions Cyndy Larsen, Area VP, Kaiser Permanente Ann Schnure, VP Risk Management – Claims, Macy’s Stephen T. Woods, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Value-based care rewards high-quality and cost-effective patient care, ties payments
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At the 2016 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, Marcos Iglesias from The Hartford and Robert Hall from Helios discussed the impact of disability and tools for improving outcomes for injured workers.  Ways injured workers are impacted by disability include: Loss of income – Not only during the course of the claim, but potential loss of income in the future.  Passivity – Not taking an active role in your own rehabilitation. Waiting for others to tell you want to do. Loss of self-efficacy – Loss of initiative to do things for yourself.  Isolation – Work provides a great deal of
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Mental health factors like stress, anxiety and depression contribute to disabilities, productivity losses and absences. Physical wellbeing and mental health are intertwined, therefore, both are necessary for recovery from injury and illness. In this session at the 2016 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, presenters discussed current research related to the topic and provided examples on how to help employees remain productive by addressing mental-health challenges. Speakers included: Scott Daniels, Director of Disability Global Benefits at Comcast Hilary Mitchell, Director of Employee Health Services at Pitney Bowes Kimberly George, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, M&A and Healthcare at Sedgwick The
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Engaging injured workers in their own recovery and claims process makes practical sense. The more engaged, the more likely they will participate in positive behavior, helping them return to work sooner. But in a world of rapidly-changing technology, measures for engaging workers must evolve — or be doomed to fail. In the opening keynote session at the 2016 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, Tim East, Director of Corporate Risk Management at The Walt Disney Company, explained how responding to changing demands and expectations provides clues for how workers’ compensation must evolve to keep pace with the claims experiences that
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At the 2016 PCI Annual Meeting, a panel of retiring insurance executives discussed lessons learned over their careers. The panel included: Marguerite Tortorello – moderator Terrance Cavanaugh – President and CEO – Erie Insurance Group Kenneth Ciak – Vice Chairman – Ameriprise Auto and Home Insurance Tad Montross – Retired CEO – Gen Re J. Douglas Robinson – Chairman of the Board – Utica National Insurance Group What keeps you up at night, then and now? The Weather Channel! Making sure that we are achieving responsible growth for our shareholders. The emerging risk trend that had not yet been identified.
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At the 2016 PCI Annual Meeting, a panel discussed the current state of the reinsurance marketplace, emerging risks in the U.S. and around the world, and how these issues could impact the marketplace. The panel included: Andrew Marcell – Global Head of Strategy – AON Benfield (moderator) James Bradshaw – CEO – Willis Re North America Steven Levy – President – Reinsurance Division, Munich Reinsurance America Andrew Winyard – Executive Director – Atrium Syndicate What do you expect from the reinsurance marketplace in the January 1 renewal cycle? This depends significantly on the line of business and area of the
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At the 2016 PCI Annual Meeting, Prem Watsa, CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings, talked about the state of the global marketplace. The last fifteen years (2000-2015) has been the second slowest economic growth rate in the United States – going back to when this was first measured in the late 1700. During this same time, U.S. private and public debt has spiked significantly. The U.S. economy has a tremendous impact on world markets. When you compare the U.S. to other countries Japan, the U.K. and E.U. nations, all have a higher percentage of GDP as debt. This shows how challenging
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At the 2016 Illinois Self Insurers’ Association 38th Annual Educational Seminar and Membership Meeting, William Blumthal Jr, Deputy Director Investigations from the Illinois Department of Insurance, provided an update on their efforts to combat workers’ compensation insurance fraud. First, the definition of fraud is important to understand. It is an intentional act that results in financial gain. This contrasts with abuse, which is the improper use of something that is not intentional. Fraud can be prosecuted, abuse cannot. Why care about fraud? The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud estimates there is approximately $80 billion in insurance fraud every year. Workers’ compensation
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At the 2016 Illinois Self Insurers’ Association 38th Annual Educational Seminar and Membership Meeting, Michael Teri and Garrett McGinn from DigiStream Investigation discussed investigations focused on social media research. Geo-Tagged Posts When investigating an auto accident, they search for social media posts that were geo-tagged in the area at the time of the accident to see if anyone happened to take pictures of the accident. Geo-tagged posts can also help you locate a claimant who has gone missing. These tags can show you everywhere a person “checked in” and where they posted multiple times. Reviewing geo-tags from courthouses can show
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