Health Wonk Review – David Williams has a snappy new edition of Health Wonk Review posted over at Health Business Blog. Because HWR took a little summer hiatus last week, this issue is packed – and it’s all organized in a great format that allows for quick and easy scanning. David’s witty summaries are fun – check it out, it’s a good edition.
Cool development in assistive technology for paraplegics – Radi Kioff is a 40-year-old Israeli who spent the last 20 years in a wheelchair after being shot in the back while serving in the Israel Defense Forces. The video in this post shows him walking and climbing stairs with the help of a light wearable brace called ReWalk, a system designed to help paraplegics regain mobility. The system is undergoing clinical trials in Israel and scheduled to begin US trials in November. It’s great to see such a promising development for those who have suffered spinal chord injuries. (Thanks to Medgadget for the pointer.)
Crane fatalities – rawblogXport points us to the story of an eyewitness account from one of the workers who escaped in last week’s LyondellBasell’s crane collapse that killed 4 workers and injured 7. The article’s sidebar recounts the number of crane accidents so far this year. Celeste Monforton posts more on this and other crane fatalities at The Pump Handle.
PBM shakeup – Joe Paduda has the skinny on PMSI’s recent sale to investment firm HIG. Find more detail in his post PMSI sale – the numbers.
Disgruntled claimant on trial for murder – When you’ve worked in insurance for awhile, you know that a lot of anger and tension can surface around money matters, even more so when things reach a litigation stage. And many a claims manager can cite a litany of stories about angry calls or threats from disgruntled claimants who feel they’d had a raw deal. A story from California today reports on the trial of a claimant who shot and killed his own attorney two years ago. Angus McIntyre was very angry at his workers compensation settlement. He had reportedly threatened and harassed his claims adjuster in e-mails and voice mails on numerous occasions and apparently also held his attorney responsible. One evening he walked into that attorneys office and shot him in the head. Terrible story, and a sad reminder that violent threats must never be taken lightly.
Provider jailed for fraud – It’s 12 months jail time for a New York social worker who double-billed insurance companies to the tune of $102,000 for health care services. A health care provider may bill two insurance companies for the same treatment, but is obligate to disclose the double billing and cannot keep amount beyond 100 percent of the cost of the service. The conviction is not surprising, but I can’t recall too many insurance fraud cases that result in jail time. It’s also a reminder that fraud comes in many flavors – it is not synonymous with “employee.”
Fall protection – Brooks Schuelke posts an overview of fall protection systems at InjuryBoard.com. Falls are one of the most common source of injury and death in construction work. (Related: our prior post on human fall traps)