At the 2016 SAWCA Annual Conference, Dr Sharon Heise, Associate Director of the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) provided a preview of the coming age of robotics. Sensory assistance is one area where technology can be very useful in workers’ compensation. Traumatic injury can lead to sensory loss. Much of their so work […]

At the 2016 SAWCA Annual Conference a panel discussed how new technology is changing the medical community. The panel was: Jarrod Magan – VP of Client Technology Services – Sedgwick Tammy Boyd – Vice President of Business Development & Marketing – NeuroInternational Jill Rosenthal – SVP and Chief Medical Officer – Zenith Insurance Robert Snyder […]

This week Conference Chronicles will be blogging from the SAWCA Annual Conference in Sandestin, FL.  The Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators focuses on interaction, education, and collegiality among state regulators from 21 jurisdictions. Conference attendees include regulators, judges, and a wide variety of industry stakeholders.  You can learn more about the event HERE

The 2016 SAWCA Annual Convention kicked off with a Regulators Roundtable where workers’ compensation regulators from various jurisdictions discussed a variety of industry issues. The panel was moderated by John Williams the Commissioner from Virginia and featured representatives from sixteen jurisdictions. Attorney Fees The Florida Supreme Court recently ruled that the part of their statute […]

At the 2016 DMEC Annual Conference a panel discussed the challenges of multiple laws regulating disability management the benefits of an integrated disability management program. The panel was: Jane Ryan – Return to Work Recovery and Claims Services – Mayo Clinic Trina Mouton – Manager Disability Management & Wellness – CenterPoint Energy Patrick Leary – […]

At the 2016 ACE Conference, Caryn Siebert with Knight Insurance Group presented a session discussing the challenges and solutions involved in prescription management. In 2014, opioid overdoses killed over 28,000 patients. From 1999 – 2013, the number of opioid prescriptions quadrupled. Earlier this year, President Obama called for additional federal government funding to prevent opioid […]

At the 2016 WCIRB Conference a panel discussed some of the geographic variations in costs seen in the California workers’ compensation system. This was a compendium of a variety studies done by WCIRB and CWCI. California has significant differences in wage levels and occupations by geographic area in the state. There are also variations in […]

At the WCIRB California Annual Conference, Chief Actuary Dave Bellusci presented their update on the California workers’ compensation system. 2015 was the sixth consecutive year of $1 billion premium growth in California. This is expected to flatten or decrease slightly in 2016 because of lower rates. In 2015 California accounted for 29% of the total […]

Workers’ compensation costs throughout the U.S. have increased by 8-10% over the past few years. This may be attributed to an increase in medical costs and wages, which in turn raises the indemnity payouts. There are two ways to decrease these costs: (1) have fewer injuries and (2) improve management of the injuries when they […]

This session at the PRIMA 2016 Annual Conference featured a panel of public entity risk managers discussing their biggest workers’ compensation challenges and how they are overcoming them. Presenters included: Mark Walls, Safety National Kimberly George, Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. Marilyn Rivers, CPCU, ARM, AIC, City Saratoga Springs, NY Dan Hurley, CSP, ARM-P, MS, […]