Fresh Health Wonk Review and assorted news briefs from around the web

September 17th, 2009 by Julie Ferguson

Hot of the presses, a freshly baked edition of Health Wonk Review posted by Rich Elmore of Healthcare Technology News. There’s some really good commentary by some really smart people – including reactions to Obama’s speech last week.
Getting results from managed care – Joe Paduda posts a list of questions for your work comp managed care vendors over at Managed Care Matters – an excellent prep list of key areas that you should be considering when vendors are up for review – or even when they’re not. These are important cost control issues to be monitoring on an ongoing basis.
Claimant experiences in Wisconsin and California – Peter Rousmaniere offers a comparison of workers comp claimant experience in Wisconsin and California in this month’s column in Risk & Insurance. This is based on the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) 11-state study of claimant experience with the workers’ compensation system which was released earlier this year.
Lack of RTW costs big bucks in L.A. – Roberto Ceniceros posts about the an egregious loophole in the Los Angeles workers comp system – “No wonder the county’s comp bill soared from $288 million last year to $407 million this year.” This might go a long way to explaining the disparity in state results that Rousmaniere discusses, above.
9-11 and workers comp – In commemorating the eight anniversary of 9/11, Tony Graffeo of WorkersCompensation.com offers a roundup of case law related to 9/11 claims. He notes that “… the 9/11 attacks brought on the largest single event ever to confront the workers’ compensation industry; one that in many ways nearly brought it to its knees.”
9/11 filing deadline: one year countdown – Laura Walter of EHS Today issues a reminder that time is running out for workers and volunteers who participated in rescue, cleanup or recovery operations following the attack on the World Trade Center to register with New York State’s Workers’ Compensation Board to preserve the right to file for 9/11-related workers’ compensation. The final deadline for filing is Sept. 11, 2010.
Pandemic and Workers Comp – attorney Jon Gelman posts about the urgent need for workers compensation pandemic planning, noting that the challenges facing the workers’ compensation system to deliver benefits as promised may be seriously burdened.
What are the odds…Death Risk Rankings is an interactive tool from CarnegieMellon that calculates your risk of dying in the next year and allows you to compare that risk to others in the world.
Short takes
Top 10 Workers Compensation Medicare Set Aside Errors and how to avoid them (PDF)
Masschusetts to set up a statewide electronic health information exchange
Can You Hear Me Now? Noise and Your Employees’ Hearing
Reducing fatalities: the little things really do matter