Posts Tagged ‘blogs’

Thank you, LexisNexis and Julie Ferguson

Thursday, December 12th, 2013

While we don’t usually make a fuss over these things, I want to thank the good people at LexisNexis for once again recognizing Workers Comp Insider as one of the top three national blogs of the year. We’re highly appreciative and grateful for the honor.
I also want to take a moment to thank the Mother of Insurance Blogs, Julie Ferguson.
Julie and I have worked together for more than 20 years, and I cannot tell you how much I value her considerable talent, dedication, professionalism and vision. But even I was a bit confused and surprised when, in early 2003, she came to me to suggest that we might want to create something called a “weblog” for workers compensation. At that time, I viewed these things as the fad du jour, something teenagers used to memorialize what they had for breakfast and what they thought might be neat for the rest of the day, at least until lunch.
But Julie told me that this would be a way to reach a much larger constituency and, if we stuck to it, we had a chance to shape the future of workers compensation communication. I was highly skeptical, but she was persuasive and would not let it go.
And she was right. Thus was conceived and born the first insurance blog in the world. The Insider debuted in September, 2003, and has been going strong ever since. And all the credit goes to Julie. Early on, she said that many blogs would be created, but few would survive because of all the hard work, persistence and dedication it takes to keep them going, to keep them fresh, informative, readable and compelling. She was right about that, too.
So, thank you, LexisNexis, and thank you our faithful readers, but most of all thank you, Julie Ferguson, my visionary friend.

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! !

Brainy Edition of Health Wonk Review & some new business blog suggestions

Thursday, August 16th, 2012

Dr. Jaan Sidorov has posted A Brainy Health Wonk Review on Health Reform, the Affordable Care Act and Lots More! at Disease Management Care Blog. Health Wonk Review is on an abbreviated summer schedule but the wonkers still have a lot to share and Jaan does a great job dishing it up – check it out.
Additions to our blogroll
From time to time, we update our blogroll with new blog finds – and we also clear out some of the less active blogs. It’s exciting to see such a thriving workers comp and insurance community online – back in 2003, when we started, it was a pretty lonely place! Check them all out under “Business Weblogs” in our right hand sidebar. We also have a variety of other useful tools if you haven’t checked them out yet!

Risk roundup, virtual WC event, presumption, self insurance, haboob video & more

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Risk roundup – This week’s edition of Cavalcade of Risk – edition #135 – is being hosted by The Notwithstanding Blog. In that several countries celebrate their independence in the month of July, our host has a suitably related theme that may test the breadth of your geographic trivia. Oh, and there are some good posts this week, too!
bi-conference.JPGMark September 22 on your calendar now – Better yet, head on over to Business Insurance and register for Virtual Advantage 2011 – Workers Comp Trends & Cost Control Strategies. We’re very pleased that our own Tom Lynch will be participating on a blogger panel with three other blog luminaries: Roberto Ceniceros, Joe Paduda, and Mark Walls. There will also be a keynote by NCCI’s Harry Shuford, an expert panel on pharmaceutical cost controls for worker’s comp – and more. It’s a one-day virtual conference – and best of all – there is no charge to attend.
Presumption – And speaking of Mark Walls, congrats to him on his first column in Risk & Insurance. If you don’t know Mark by name, suffice it to say he is the powerhouse behind LinkedIn’s popular Work Comp Analysis Group. In Not all claims are created equal he talks about the thorny issue of presumption and how presumption laws fiddle with a basic tenet of the workers compensation pact: that the burden to prove an injury or illness “arose out of employment” falls to the employee.
Self Insurance – If the workers comp market continues to harden, as many are predicting, many employers might be looking to alternatives to the traditional insurance options. In Risk Management Magazine, Richard C. Frese, a consulting actuary from Milliman, tackles the topic in his article Does Your Self-Insured Program Need a Tune-Up?. It’s a good overview of what you need to know if you are considering the move.
Employment law – Attorney Phillip Miles posts a handy SCOTUS Employment Law Year in Review 2011 – a summary of cases with links for more information.
New blog discovery – check out Texas Mutual’s Blog. We particularly liked the recent post on The ABCs of new employee safety. This is an important issue – in their own claim analysis, they found that roughly 27% of job-related fatalities involve employees who have been on a new job for less than 90 days. They also cite the OSHA stat that 40% of all injured employees have been on the job for less than a year. They also note that “new employee” may not just be a new hire: “New employees include people who transfer to a new position, return to work after an extended absence, operate a new piece of equipment or implement a new procedure.” Check out the post for tips on this topic.
Wow of the week – a little off topic, but check out this amazing video of the massive haboob (dust storm) that hit Phoenix on July 5.
Briefs
* Opioids, deaths, and workers comp
* LAPD prescription drug abuse tied to disabilities
* Consumer Reports: Can you read this drug label?
* The 10 worst states for P&C insurers
* Safety tip sheet: Livestock handling
* Safety on the loading dock

New blog discoveries for our blogroll

Monday, January 18th, 2010

We’re in the process of updating our blogroll to add some blogs that we’ve been following, as well as to delete some old favorites that have become inactive. Here are a few of the blogs we’ve added – check them out:
Work Comp Complex Care Blog – affiliated with Total Medical Solutions, a FL-based firm that focuses on home health care and complex care products and services for the workers’ comp industry.
Lexis Nexis Workers Comp Law Blogs – this is a news feed of various law bloggers who post on workers’ comp legal matters.
MEMIC Safety Blog – safety & loss control consultants from Maine’s largest workers’ compensation insurer post about workplace safety issues.
Advanced Safety & Health Blog – safety & prevention news sponsored by a company of the same name.
Coal Tattoo – investigative reporter Ken ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette blogs about West Virginia mining, mining safety, mining-related public health issues, and more.
Today’s Workplace – a blog from workplacefairness.org, a non-profit organization that provides information, education, and assistance to individual workers and their advocates nationwide and promotes public policies that advance employee rights.
MassDevice Blog – This blog is associated with Massachusetts Medical Devices Journal, an online journal of the New England medical devices industry, with coverage of emerging trends, technology and devices that save lives.
Medgadget – this long-time favorite bills itself as the internet journal for emerging medical technologies.
WSJ Health BlogWall Street Journal’s blog on health and the business of health.

Workers Comp Insider Named to LexisNexis Top 25 WC Blogs

Monday, October 26th, 2009

We thought we’d toot our own horn a little this morning. We were pleased to find a note in our mailbox from LexisNexis telling us that we had been included in the Top 25 Blogs for Workers Compensation and Workplace Issues. Here’s what they had to say:

Considered by many as the gold standard for workers’ comp blogs, the Workers’ Comp Insider covers it all: workers’ compensation, risk management, business insurance, workplace health & safety, occupational medicine, and much more. Launched in September 2003, this weblog proved how a company can harness the power of the open web by allowing its employees to voice their opinions and showcase the company’s expertise.

We appreciate the recognition, and we’re happy to see so many fine blogs in the work comp arena today – it was sure a quiet place in 2003 when we first hung out our shingle. Be sure to visit and check out some other fine blogs in this space – we’re happy to see many blog pals there and look forward to discovering some new finds.
And if you have a mind to, LexisNexis is taking recommendations for the TopBlog of 2009 – we’d welcome your input and appreciate any votes of confidence should you so choose.
Thanks, LexisNexis!

Cavalcade of Risk; our Twitter debut; a few good blogs

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Hot off the presses – Richard Eskow has posted the most recent edition of Cavalcade of Risk. He’s got a good round-up of risk-related posts, but he had hazardous duty posting it due to a huge number of spam submissions. Spammy, fly-by-night blogs seem to be proliferating, grrr. Guess that is one of the risks inherent in business blogging.
In other news …
We’ve just joined the rank of Twitterers – just getting our feet wet so far, but check us out twitter.com/workcompinsider. Twitter seems to be a love it or hate it type of thing for people … some critics go to pretty creative lengths to weigh in with their opinion.
A few good blog finds this week to add to your reading list:
Risk Management Monitor – the official blog of Risk Management magazine, providing daily stories, commentary, interviews, podcasts and videos related to the world of risk management and insurance. Meet the bloggers.
And two international entries:
Ramazzini – a blog on work and health by Annet Lenderink, trained occupational physician and a journalist, who works as coordinator of knowledge dissemination at the Netherlands Center of Occupational Diseases. The blog is named after the Italian founder of Occupational Medicine Bernadino Ramazzinni (1633-1714).
Safety At Work Blog – an Australian blog focusing on news and opinion on important workplace safety issues. The blog was founded by workplace safety consultant and Kevin Jones. Meet Kevin and the other blog contributors and you can also follow them on Twitter.

Noteworthy blog and Twitter finds

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

We surf the web so you don’t have to! From time to time, we like to bring your attention to some new or noteworthy blogs related to workers’ comp, healthcare, or other work-related matters. Now we’re finding some Twitter feeds, too. Here’s our current crop:
Judge Tom Talks – Judge Tom Leonard is one of ten judges at the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Court, and in his blog, he offers his thoughts about issues affecting the efficient handling of claims. Congrats to Judge Tom for recently passing his one year “blogiversary.”
MySafeWork Blog is the blog of Canadians Rob Ellis and Jessica Di Sabatino, who lost a son and brother to a workplace accident in 1999. David was only 18 when he died and his Dad and sister have been devoted to educating young workers – as well as parents and employers – about the importance of workplace safety related to youthful workers.
New Englanders and those interested in healthcare should take note of Boston Health News, authored by Tinker Ready. She is a health care journalist who has covered health and science news for a variety of notable publications, including The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and Esquire, to name a few. We discovered her blog through Health Wonk Review, which – incidentally – we are hosting here tomorrow!
We note that NIOSH has a Twitter feed. Not sure how long the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has been tweeting, but it has been a useful format for disseminating news about the H1N1 outbreak.
In addition to his Workers Compensation blog, noted workers comp trial attorney and author Jon Gelman can also be found on Twitter at jongelman.
SafetyNewsAlert – edited by Fred Hosier, this site is more of an e-zine than a blog, but has useful articles, news, and links on various workplace health and safety issues.
Lloyd’s has several bloggers now, all accessible from the Lloyd’s blog page.

Workers Comp Insider: 5 years and counting!

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

Yay us! This month is our 5th year blogging anniversary so we were pleased to be named to Lexus-Nexus Top 25 Blogs for Workers Compensation — and to see a few of our esteemed colleagues on the list, too. We have to laugh because when we started, we weren’t sure we would find enough to post about to make it to year 2, let alone year 5. And back then, the business blogging landscape was pretty thin indeed, so we’d never have foreseen such a robust community emerging for such a niche topic.
You are reading post #934. In the 1680 days we’ve been keeping track, we’ve had 900,000 visits from 600,000 unique visitors. We generally have about 18 to 20 thousand visitors a month, and as would be expected, about 85% of our visitors come from the U.S., but Canada, the UK, and Australia also make a good showing. We’ve had visitors from about 200 countries, including some that challenged our geographic awareness: Kiribati? Burkina Faso? (sidetrack: how many countries can you name in 5 minutes?)
In honor of the event, we thought we’d dish up our top 15 all-time greatest hits. These posts reflect the most searched for topics, as well as the ones that you, our readers, have clicked on the most:

Health Wonk Review #36

Thursday, July 26th, 2007

Robert Laszewski of Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review is hosting a fine edition of Health Wonk Review today, the bi-weekly roundup of some of the best posts from the policy wonks in the health care blog world. Lately, as the debate about health care heats up, Health Wonk Review is a good way to keep up on the issues with perspectives from the experts. Today’s post is no exception and Bob has packaged it all into an entertaining read – check it out!