As claims drag on, injured workers may start believing that their injuries, disabilities and chronic pain are worse than they actually are. They may perceive the workers’ compensation system is treating them unjustly and withdraw from work and social activities, fueling further catastrophic thinking and fear. This session at the 24th Annual National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference showed how such psychosocial risk factors common in delayed-recovery cases can be identified early and mitigated with evidence-based interventions that improve return-to-work results. Speakers included: Darrell Bruga, Founder and CEO at LifeTEAM Health John T. Harbaugh, M.D., Occupational Medicine Physician Director at
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At the 2015 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, Mary O’Donoghue, Vice President, Medical Services, Helmsman Management Services and Stephanie Perilli, Senior Director, Medical & Health Management, The Home Depot discussed how nurse case managers can add value to your data and to create a successful strategy to improve return-to-work outcomes, lower costs and deliver the best care possible. Some major healthcare challenges are high costs. Global healthcare is slowing but not in the US, 5.4% increase in US health spending, about $8000 a year per person. The environment is dynamic, technology is advancing but the people who are using
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During this session at the 2015 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference Albert B. Randall Jr., President, Franklin and Prokopik, and Lori A. Serverson, CSP, Vice President, Lockton Companies discussed workplace violence. “Run, Hide and Fight” is the new motto being taught in schools not “Stop, Drop and Roll.” There are nearly 2 million employees reports of workplace violence each year. The United States is the leader of mass shootings. Violence on the job risks include: working alone interacting with public  handling money delivery late or early hours guarding care teaching high crime areas The costs associated with workplace violence
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This session at the 24th Annual National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference illustrated how Walmart analyzed its overall prescription cost drivers, found alternatives and reduced the prescribing of other pharmaceuticals threatening employee health within their organization. Speakers included: Mark Pew, Senior Vice President at PRIUM Janice Van Allen, Director of Workers’ Compensation at Walmart Stores, Inc. Due to the rapidly-growing prescription misuse issues among Walmart’s associates in pain-management programs, the company decided to think differently about drug regimens used by their associates. Initially, the overall problem was anecdotal based on individual claim experience. This later became data driven when Walmart
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At the 2015 National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, Lee Blitstein, Partner, Altman, Lunche and Blitstein and Sharon Weissinger, Senior Occupational Health Manager, Hyatt Hotels discuss employer strategies, clinic strategies, insurance carriers, and judicial considerations for claim prevention, protocols and defense strategies. Employer strategies: work to ensure employees feel comfortable reporting any incidents show compassion and concern for their safety and well being constantly educate managers and supervisors on proper accident investigations and reporting emphasize the open door policy and be visible around the work environment meet with employee as soon as possible discuss the right-to-work procedures work restrictions have
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Opportunities to manage workplace injuries to their optimal conclusions evaporate when claim handlers ignore medical intervention’s power. Important elements may be lost, including the potential to identify risk factors that can delay recovery, the ability to uncover non-work injury causations, and the efficient coordination of claims-service providers. In this session at the 24th Annual National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference, medical directors from two large workers’ compensation insurers and a self-insured employer provided strategies for unlocking medical intervention’s capacity. Speakers included: Mel Belsky, M.D., Medical Director, Workers’ Comp Program at Safeway Inc. Marcos Iglesias, M.D., VP and Medical Director at
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The delivery of quality healthcare is key to mitigating the rising costs of chronic health conditions, lengthy disabilities and stubborn workers’ compensation claims. Arthur M. Southam, M.D., EVP, Health Plan Operations at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals kicked off the 24th Annual National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference with this session providing quality measures that positively impact chronic disease and other healthcare factors affecting claimants. Our Healthcare System Our current system is a massive economic enterprise. The United States spends approximately 50% more on healthcare than any other country in the world. In 2015, approximately 151
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At the 2015 IRMI Construction Risk Conference, Thomas Lyons (Construction Safety Manager with Gilbane) and Jennifer Wycisk (Corporate Safety Director with Webcor Builders) presented a session discussed the current state of site safety efforts. Site safety managers play a very important role in the construction industry. Their efforts prevent accidents and save lives. Safety best practices should be shared across the industry. They are not something that needs to be kept in-house as a competitive advantage. Safety professionals need to constantly learn from the experiences of others. Although the Safety Manager oversees safety on the workplace, they cannot be the
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At the 2015 IRMI Construction Risk Conference, the CEOs of two construction firms discussed how they view risk, the role of risk management and their roles in establishing risk management expectations in their organizations. The speakers were Charles Bacon III (Chairman & CEO of Limbach Facility Services LLC) and Thomas Gilbane Jr (Chairman and CEO of Gilbane, Inc). William McIntyre moderated the discussion. The session was presented in question / answer interview format. What are the prospects for the commercial and residential construction markets in 2016? The prospects for 2016 are very strong. There is a healthy pipeline of projects
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Conference Chronicles will be blogging from the 24th Annual National Workers’ Compensation & Disability Conference & Expo on November 11-13 in Las Vegas, Nevada. For 23 years, the National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference® (NWCDC) has been one of the leading training events for workers’ compensation and disability management professionals — attracting thousands of industry professionals each year. NWCDC is also home to the industry’s largest expo in the nation and features more than 260 vendors of claims management software, cost containment solutions, managed care services, medical/pharmaceutical products, RTW services, risk management solutions and much more. Click here for more
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