At the 2015 Comp Laude Gala, a panel discussed The Image of Workers’ Compensation and What We Can Do About It.  The panel consisted of: Moderator: Dave DePaolo – Work Comp Central Christine Baker – Director, California Department of Industrial Relations Dan Walters – Political Columnist, The Sacramento Bee Steve Cattolica – Director Government Relations, CSIMS Mark Sektnan – President, ACIC Question: Are the media portrayals of the workers’ compensation system accurate? Answers: Yes, they are accurate. However one thing that the media is not taking into account is the impact that the political process has on workers’ comp. In
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At the 2015 Comp Laude Gala in Burbank, CA, David DePaolo, President and CEO of WorkCompCentral presented his thoughts on the state of the workers’ compensation industry. Dave feels the fundamental purpose of workers’ compensation is to make it affordable for an employer to take care of it’s injured workers and to provide security to injured workers to protect their lives in the case of a workplace accident. There is a constant evaluation of the costs vs the benefits under workers’ compensation. Over time, the costs to provide workers’ compensation benefits has consistently increased relative to the amount of benefits
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At the 24th Annual National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, some of the workers’ compensation industry’s most-prominent bloggers gathered to debate industry trends. The panel consisted of: Moderator: Mark Walls, Vice President Communications & Strategic Analysis, Safety National David DePaolo, J.D., Founder, President and CEO, WorkCompCentral.com; Author, DePaolo’s Work Comp World blog Joseph Paduda, Principal, Health Strategy Associates; Author, Managed Care Matters blog Rebecca Shafer, J.D., President, Amaxx Risk Solutions Inc., Author, ReduceYourWorkersComp.com blog Robert Wilson, President and CEO, WorkersCompensation.com; Author, From Bob’s Cluttered Desk blog Is workers’ compensation still that grand bargain between employers and workers? ProPublica, OSHA and
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At the 2015 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, Adam L. Seidner, M.D., Global Medical Director, Travelers Insurance Co. and Silvia Sacalis, PharmD, VP Clinical Services, Healthesystems presented how a comprehensive view of an injured worker’s medical history and treatment course ensures appropriate claims decisions, resulting in optimal care and functional restoration. Silvia started the session by giving a few stats regarding prescriptions. 20%-30% of prescriptions are never filled and 50% are never taken as prescribed. Many patients have comorbidities that hinder their recovery. The more medicines that are added to their treatment the more that they are not taken
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Established medical guidelines recommend urine drug/toxicology screenings to help ensure the safety of patients prescribed opioids long term and to identify any aberrant use. However, a study conducted by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute shared new research that reveals the growing practice of urine drug screening is overused and abused, driving claims expenses for services that do not benefit injured workers. This session at the 24th Annual National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference highlighted best practices on how urine drug monitoring (UDM) data should be used. Speakers included: Alex Swedlow, President, California Workers’ Compensation Institute Mark Pew, Senior Vice President,
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At the 2015 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, a panel presented a session titled “Workers’ Comp Future – Recruiting and Retaining the Next Generation of Claims Talent.” The panel included: Jennifer Burkhart, National Workers’ Comp Claims Leader, Westfield Insurance Dan Holden, Manager of Corporate Risk & Insurance, Daimler Trucks North America Rick Thompson, VP of Talent Management & Administration, Rising Medical Solutions’ Let’s take a look at the corporate world 10 years ago: no cell phone at work business formal dress code very little schedule flexibility or work from home employee handbook over 100 pages annual reviews less than
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At the 2015 National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference & Expo, a panel discussed how one employer’s workers’ compensation experience aligns with future healthcare models. The panel was: Kimberly George, SVP and Senior Healthcare Advisor of Sedgwick Lisa Kelly, Senior Workers’ Compensation Manager for Boeing Greg Moore, President and CEO of Harbor Health Systems Employers are starting to look beyond just their health costs to the experience of their employees in their health system. The thought is employees who are engaged in their healthcare will be not only healthier, but more engaged in their jobs. Right now, the healthcare system
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Data analytics and predictive modeling are quickly becoming workers’ compensation industry staples as more employers recognize that the technology can positively impact their operations by improving claims management, risk assessments and loss costs. This session at the 24th Annual National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference illustrated key elements to include in workers’ compensation predictive models. Speakers included: Frank Murray, Senior Vice President of Claims at ESIS Tim Starks, Director of Casualty at Georgia-Pacific Predictive modeling is a commonly-used statistical technique to predict future behavior. Claims are defined by broad categories and treated with a common set of best practices. The
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At the 2015 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, a panel presented a session titled “Physical Function Pre-Work Screens and Fitness-For-Duty Evaluations. The panel included: Darin Hampton, Regional Coordinator, International Paper Gia Schneider, Esq. Shareholder, Haworth, Bradshaw, Stallknecht & Barber Tony Silva, Director, Atlas Injury Prevention Solutions It’s important to remember to match the work and the worker. A functional job analysis is a systematic procedure to quantify and evaluate the physical, cognitive, and environmental demands of the essential tasks of the job. Identify the physical requirements to perform the job. Observe and interact with workers who perform the selected
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At the 2015 National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference & Expo, Tom Robinson (co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law) presented a session discussing some of the strange cases seen in the workers’ compensation industry this year. Demperio vs Onondaga County, 2015 NY App. Div LEXIS 2561 In New York you cannot file a stress claim for witnessing a suicide. The claimant who was a secretary in a doctors office saw a patient jump out a window and die. She was one of the first people on the scene and her boss told her to go get an oxygen tank for
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