Archive for the ‘Industry Events’ Category

WCRI, Inside Baseball in California, Patient Records in New Jersey and Who’s Managing What Care

Thursday, February 26th, 2015

The WCRI Annual Issues and Research Conference gets underway a week from today in Boston. The conference and Lynch Ryan are each in their 31st year, but, truth to tell, the first WCRI conference could have been held in a telephone booth (not The Tardis).

We wrote about this conference a couple of weeks ago, so no need to cover old ground. However, it is worthwhile to mention how valuable the conference has become. It’s a serious event attended by serious professionals. Sorry- not much partying. Las Vegas it aint. And this year its style is even more cramped what with more than eight feet of snow hanging around. But the walkway around the Charles is cleared, so you can bring your running shoes. I, on the other hand, coffee in hand, will be happy to wave goodbye to you as you head out the hotel door for that morning run. The older I get the more I subscribe to Winston Churhill’s view of exercise: he said he got enough of it carrying the coffins of his athletic friends.

Unfortunately, we just learned that the WCRI has “reluctantly” decided to cancel its Opt Out session, because “at least one of the presenters felt that the time allotted for the session was too short for the objectives to be well-met.” This is truly unfortunate given the momentum the Opt Out movement is gaining nationally. You would have thought the presenters could have raised this issue a lot earlier. Nonetheless, I’m sure there will be much opt out discussion among attendees outside of the sessions. WCRI is offering to refund registration money for those who choose to “opt out” of Boston due to the cancellation. Regardless, I hope to see you in Boston.

Inside Baseball In California
When looking for something a bit out of the ordinary, California workers’ comp never disappoints. Work Comp Central’s Greg Jones reports this morning that:

A Southern California applicants’ law firm claims in court filings that Knox Ricksen “hacked” the computer network of a vendor it uses to sign up new clients to gain access to an estimated 2,000 confidential and privileged documents.

In the suit, the plainiffs’ law firm, Reyes & Barsoum, says it has a vendor, HQ Sign-up Services Inc., whose job it is to “sign up” customers for the firm. The suit alleges that the defense law firm Knox Ricksen hacked HQ Sign-up, gaining access to claimant information which HQ Sign-up would forward to lawyers at Reyes & Barsoum. This would give Knox Ricksenan unfair and illegal advantage in the legal proceedings. People, I did not title this Inside Baseball for nothing!

This little dust-up shines a light on the dog-eat-dog adjuducative business that is California workers’ comp. It’s not pretty and it never has been. I wonder what opt out legislation would do for California?

Patient Records In New Jersey
Now we balance the cesspool into which California’s workers’ comp courtroom wars sometimes descend with workers’ comp law as it should be practiced. John Geaney, a man for whom I have great respect, is an executive committee member and shareholder with New Jersey’s Capehart Scatchard. John began publishing a client newsletter in 2001. A few years ago it morphed into a blog, which Lexis Nexus awards as one the nation’s Top 25 workers’ comp blogs. John’s blog should be required reading for all workers’ comp professionals in New Jersey. For that matter, it’s instructive wherever you are.
Today’s blog post concerns the right of injured workers to have access to their medical files. In my experience, there are some claims adjusters that resist this. However, doing so can worsen the situation and alienate the injured worker. Transparency is good for everyone. This blog post is well worth reading.

Who’s Managing What Care
In his Quick Tips blog post of today, Barry Thompson takes no prisoners as he derides what has become of “Managed Care,” which Barry has renamed “Manipulated Cost.” His is a tale told in anger, and he asks, “Where’s the outrage?” Good question. In the early 1990s, I gave a presentation at NCCI’s Annual Issues Conference and titled the presentation Managed Care: Who Manages, Who Cares? ‘Twas ever thus. It seems that the question is still begging for an answer.

The WCRI Annual Conference: May The Weather Gods Cooperate

Thursday, February 12th, 2015

As Bostonians try to dig out from the most snow ever recorded in a 30-day period in Boston, we look forward to the WCRI’s upcoming Annual Conference at the Westin Copley Place Hotel on Thursday and Friday, March 5th and 6th.

More about the snow a little later, but first the conference.

This year, the conference theme’s title is Resilience or Renovation. However, we won’t get the resilience and renovation until Friday, Day Two. Day One is devoted to updates on all things medical, starting with Dr. Richard Victor, the Institute’s Executive Director, discussing the impact of the ACA on case shifting, which promises to be interesting, indeed. From there we move on to physician dispensing and the perverse effects of low fee schedules.

When the boat docks at Resilience and Renovation on Day Two, we begin with a session titled Resilience: Lessons From Two Decades of Reforms. The panel will discuss reforms in Texas, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Florida. While I am sure this discussion will be stimulating, as well as engaging, I find it curious that conference planners skipped over the greatest reform in the history of workers compensation. It happened in 1992 right where conference attendees will be sitting – the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

“Renovation” is a good way to describe a couple of late morning sessions on Day Two, one on Opt Out and the other on challenges to the constitutionality of workers comp. You might think that a bit wonky, but I think attendees will find it thought provoking. It’s interesting that the Opt Out session will focus on the Texas perspective, not the Oklahoman. You may recall that the Texas Opt Out provision has what I consider to be flaws of the first order. Those flaws were corrected when Oklahoma adopted its version of Opt out.

All in all, the conference is an excellent opportunity for workers comp professionals to stay in front of the research curve and to connect with some of the leading lights in the field. I hope to see you there.
Now, the weather. Here’s a Fenway Park snow sellout. Seats full of snow fans.


Speaking for all Bostonians, I think we’ve had enough. Really. Monday night, during our third major snowstorm within a week and a half, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced there would be no public transportation the following day. None. A gazillion people ride what we affectionately refer to as “The T” to get to work every day in and around Boston. Not Tuesday. Shortly after that, standing in front of the TV cameras, Governor 5-weeks-in-office Charley Baker said the 100-year-old MBTA’s performance is “not acceptable.” I guess the bloom is off his rose. We have entered the “find a scapegoat” phase.

Yesterday, the first head rolled – Dr. Beverly Scott, the T’s General Manager. She won’t be the only one.
The rest of us will be fine, but, my God, I’m looking at more than five feet of snow outside my door, and it’s not a drift! And Boston has nothing on Worcester, just 35 miles to the west where nearly 100 inches, that’s more than eight feet, have already fallen at about the halfway point of the snow season. Mother Nature has now gifted Worcester with more snow than any other city in America. Take that, Fargo! You,too, Buffalo! When this stuff melts (please, God, make it melt) we’ll probably have a new lake to rival Michigan in Central Massachusetts. Oh, and our friendly local meteorologists, never happier than when they’re forecasting impending doom, now predict that beginning tonight we’ll descend into the coldest weather of the year. High temps will be in the single digits. Human digits will freeze and fall off. And Saturday night through Sunday there’s a foot more of the fluffy white stuff headed our way just in time for Valentine’s Day. The Lord just keeps showering us with his tender mercies.

But here’s the good news: Spring training is right around the corner. Pitchers and catchers report in three days. By the time the WCRI Conference rolls around Fenway South will be in full bloom. And here in Boston the sun will be shining, the snow will be gone, temperatures will be balmy and the T will be running on time.

And pigs will be seen flying in formation outside the windows of the Westin Copley Place Hotel.

It’s North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week

Wednesday, May 7th, 2014

naosh
May 4 through 10 is North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week, a commemoration that has occurred since 1997 through an agreement between safety organizations in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The goal is to focus the attention of employers, employees, the general public, and all partners in occupational safety and health on the importance of preventing injury and illness in the workplace, at home and in the community. The slogan is Safety and Health: A Commitment for Life , and this year’s theme is How Safe Are You!
Here are participating partners / sponsors, where more information can be obtained:
American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE)
Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE)
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety (CCOHS)
Labour Program of Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC)
Threads of life

WCRI Conference: Day One

Wednesday, March 12th, 2014

Four sessions today, beginning with MIT’s Jonathon Gruber in a stemwinder. Gruber, one of the principal architects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and, with John McDonough, a prime mover in the Massachusetts health care reform of 2006, must spend 80% of his waking hours debunking rumors, which have become urban myths, which have turned into alleged “facts” regarding all things ACA. Witness for the prosecution – Sarah Palin’s Death Panels.
Dr. Gruber pointed out that one of the important differences between the Massachusetts reform, which he convincingly demonstrated was the template for the ACA, and the ACA was that Massachusetts did not have to focus on costs, because Ted Kennedy and Governor Mitt Romney had maneuvered to have the costs covered with an annual infusion of $500 million dollars of federal money. The Massachusetts reform could not have happened without this.
Nonetheless, the goal of Romney’s reform was to provide health insurance for all of Massachusetts’s citizens. And with more than 97% of the population covered, this has happened.
Gruber went on to say that, despite the rocky beginning, the federal exchanges are now running “as they should.” He suggested that a prime goal of the ACA, Medicaid expansion, is falling behind expectations, because many of the governors in the southern states have chosen to not participate. In effect, they have turned down 100% federal funding for three years and 90% funding thereafter. Frankly, I consider this an abomination. Millions of Americans will be harmed because of this politically idealogical decision. Perhaps, this will change in the future. One can hope.
Dr. Gruber reminded attendees that it took about three years to find out if the Massachusetts reform was working the way it was supposed to (It was). He suggested that a similar period would have to pass before we know if the ACA has done what it was engineered to do. Until then, we should be “humble” to recognize what we don’t know and “patient,” because the ACA is a process, not an event.
The rest of the day was devoted to Dr. Carol Telles reporting on the results of health care reforms in Texas, where costs have declined significantly, and Dr. Rebecca Yang reporting on the effects of the Illinois 30% reduction in the medical fee schedule. It appears that in Illinois costs of professional services (primary care and the like) have declined by 24%, but costs of surgical services have risen significantly to a point where they are now 382% higher than Medicare. It would have been nice to know the impact on total health care costs.
I look forward to a stimulating day tomorrow.

WCRI Conference

Wednesday, March 12th, 2014

I’ll be live-Tweeting from the WCRI Conference from Wed through Thurs so follow me at Twitter for updates.

WCRI’s Annual Conference: I hope to see you there

Friday, February 28th, 2014

The Workers Compensation Research Institute is holding its Annual Issues and Research Conference in Boston at the Park Plaza Hotel on 12 and 13 March. This year, the WCRI dives into the healthcare deep end to try to sort truth from fiction and explain how Obamacare intersects with workers comp. Is it consensual pairing or a train wreck? The long and winding road of Public Law 111-148, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is littered with the carcasses of the true, the half true and the just plain untrue. People can’t even seem to agree on how many pages are in the Act (is it 906 or more like 2,400?), or how many pages are in the regulations that followed it (10,000 or 40,000?)
And we all remember those “death panels,” too, don’t we?
I doubt that WCRI President Dr. Rick Victor will waste much time on pages or death panels, because there are a lot of substantive issues that need exploring and explaining. This year’s conference, to quote the WCRI, “will have a focus on the impact of national healthcare reform on state workers compensation systems.”
Go here to see the seven different components and the many questions WCRI speakers and panels will try to address. And go here for hotel registration information. WCRI has negotiated a $159 per night room cost. And speaking as a Boston “Homey,” I can tell you that the Park Plaza is a very nice place.
I look forward to high level dialogue and debate. Most of workers comp’s smartest and best informed people will be there. Will you be among them?

WCRI: Upheaval in the Market for Health Care – Facts and Myths

Wednesday, February 5th, 2014

Tom Lynch will be attending the 2014 WCRI Annual Issues & Research Conference on March 12-13, 2014 – will you be there? Let us know. He’s looking forward to covering some of the events and sessions on the blog. The theme of the conference is an important one: “Upheaval in the Market for Health Care – Facts and Myths.”
Love it or hate it, we’re undergoing a seismic shift in the nation’s health care system and workers’ comp is along for the ride. We hope to learn more about the way that this is likely to impact workers comp. Some of the issues the conference plans to address include:
What might the market for and the delivery of health care look like in the U.S. in five years?
What are Accountable Care Organizations and how are they developing?
How might workers’ compensation systems be affected . . .

  • Vulnerability to cost shift toward workers’ compensation?
  • Opportunities for cost shifting away from workers’ compensation?
  • Impact of increasing size and concentration of health care providers?
  • Impact of federal government regulation of medical prices?How will increased coverage affect access to care for injured workers?
  • What are the major unintended consequences to watch out for?
  • In which states are the effects likely to be largest?

Of course, there will be a host of noteworthy speakers presenting research and presentations on other topics as well – you can learn more about the event here.

Policy Wonks, Lend Me Your Ears!

Thursday, February 7th, 2013

The Insider is very much looking forward to the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) annual conference, taking place on February 27-28 in the virtual epicenter of wonkiness, Cambridge MA. There is always much food for thought in these annual gatherings of insurance execs, state officials, policy makers, attorneys, medical specialists, employers and safety/loss control practitioners.
This year’s agenda has zeroed in on the fundamental medicine-related conundrums facing workers comp systems across the country. All of us in workers comp long for insights into the following:
Unnecessary medical care and its impact on treatment guidelines. (Back surgery, anyone?)
Medical price regulation: what are the essential elements of an effective fee schedule? (Beware of the state where the doctors love comp…did someone mention “Connecticut”?)
The Opioid epidemic: treatment protocols involving the generous and prolonged distribution of opioids are destroying lives across the country. Why are so many doctors so clueless about the proper use of pain killers? Whatever happened to “do no harm”?
WCRI’s head honcho, Dr. Richard Victor, will host a discussion on health care policy involving (the presumably liberal) Howard Dean and (the assuredly conservative) Greg Judd. The dialogue might not equal the fireworks of July 4th on the Esplanade, but it might come close. The Insider will be listening closely for any indications of that rarest of phenomena: a common ground.
From Gorilla to ?
Last year, Dr. Victor concluded the conference with a discussion of the “gorilla in the room”: the enormous and perhaps insoluble problem of structural unemployment among the 20 million people who lost jobs in the recent recession. For many of these people, especially those in their 50s and 60s, there is little prospect of returning to jobs with anywhere near the same rate of pay as before. Many will find themselves lost in the new economy, cobbling together part-time employment without benefits, while struggling to hold onto housing where mortgages exceed the value of the home. Tough times and, so far, not much in the way of effective solutions.
This year Dr. Victor will have to find some other animal analogy to glean lessons from history: Giraffe in the closet? Rhino in the den? He tells us that the lesson might have something to do with the first century Ephesians, toward whom St. Paul addressed some rather famous snail mail. While some might find such a teaser a bit obscure and full of religious overtones, the Insider looks forward to the story. Indeed, we look forward to this year’s entire conference with great anticipation. There are few things better for policy wonks – our people! – than listening to the latest research from WCRI. Diligent note-taking will be in order.
If you count yourself among those with wonkish tendencies and you haven’t signed up yet, you’d best jump on it immediately. If you have any questions about the conference, contact Andrew Kenneally at WCRI: 617-661-9274.

Group hug time: Thanks, LexisNexis; Thanks, readers!

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012

TopBlogs2012.jpg
We were delighted to learn that we were named as an honoree in the 2012 LexisNexis Top 25 Blogs for Workers’ Compensation and Workplace Issues, That’s terrific and we appreciate the recognition! In their gracious acknowledgement, they note that Workers’ Comp Insider is in its 10th year, and my goodness, that’s true – how time flies!
The insurance blog scene was a barren landscape when we launched, a lonely place indeed! Plus, it was months and months before we were able to scare up much of a readership beyond our family members, closest colleagues and a handful of clients. The general reaction was “What the heck is a blog?” or “Who would want to read a diary about workers comp?” But eventually, someone found us – over the last 2,000 days, we’ve had more than 1.2 million visitors representing 209 countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe! Who’da thunk workers comp would have that much appeal?
One of the things that we find particularly gratifying is to see such a robust list of honorees on the LexisNexis list – we are happy to think we had a hand in inspiring that. Congratulations to the other 24 blogs that have also been named. As regular readers know, we’re big fans of Joe Paduda and Roberto Ceniceros, who we cite frequently. There are many other blogs on the list that are among our favorites – you will see them in our blogroll in the right-hand sidebar. We’re also delighted to find many new-to-us blogs listed that will be fun to explore. We encourage you to visit them all.
We should all feel good that workers comp has such a thriving blog scene — and we’d be remiss not to point out the important role that the LexisNexis awards have played in fostering and promoting this. If the LexisNexis Workers Compensation Law center isn’t in your “favorites” list, it needs to be! A tip of the hat to Robin E. Kobayashi and Ted Zwayer.
And last but not least, a tip of the hat, to you, our readers. You are our raison d’etre and our driving force. Whether you’re praising us or panning us, we appreciate it all. Thanks for stopping by, thanks for coming back – group hugs all around! !

Labor Day Roundup: Here’s to the Workers

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

As a belated tribute to Labor Day, we offer a smorgasbord of items about work, worker safety, and some of our favorite tributes to workers.
Celebrating the American Worker
America at Work – Alan Taylor compiles superlative photo essays for The Atlantic’s In Focus series. This collection of images from the recent Recession and its years of uncertainty — of men and women both at work and out of work in the United States.
Earl Dotter, Photojournalist – A remarkable portfolio of work documenting American workers. In the author’s words:
“For more than thirty five years the camera had enabled me to do meaningful work. Starting with Appalachian coal miners, and continuing through the years over a broad array of occupations in all regions of the country, I have observed and documented the working lives of Americans. Standing behind the lens, I have celebrated their accomplishments. I seek out those who are taking steps to improve their lives and their effectiveness at work, and use the camera to engage them by giving testimony to their achievements. The images that result tell of the satisfactions their work brings as well as its everyday challenges.”
Lost Labor – For more than 20 years, visual artist Raymon Elozua has been assembling a vast collection of company histories, pamphlets, and technical brochures that document America’s industrial history. This site features 155 photos from that collection – images of factories, machinery, and laborers hard at work. Many of the jobs depicted have faded into history. The artist grew up in the South Side of Chicago in the shadow of the giant steel mills and factories. His dad worked at U.S. Steel and his first job was at U.S. Steel, triggering a life long interest in everything about these industrial behemoths, from the architecture to the people who worked the jobs within. His interest in documenting this bygone era of American working life was sparked by the demise of the South Works industries.
Worker Safety
Hard Labor – The Center for Public Integrity says: “Each year, some 4,500 American workers die on the job and 50,000 perish from occupational diseases. Millions more are hurt and sickened at workplaces, and many others are cheated of wages and abused. In the coming months the Center for Public Integrity will publish, under the banner Hard Labor, stories exploring threats to workers — and the corporate and regulatory factors that endanger them.”
In particular, we point you to two recent stories:
Fishing deaths mount, but government slow to cast safety net for deadliest industry
Kentucky death case: Another black eye for state workplace safety enforcement
The Best Reporting on Worker Safety – ProPublica compiled “12 pieces of great reporting on workplace safety: from slaughterhouse diseases to lax regulatory oversight and deadly vats of chocolate.”
Workers in Popular Culture

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