Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’

Health Wonk Review: Hockey, hoodlums and hot rod angels edition

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Tinker Ready posts Health Wonk Review: Hockey, hoodlums and hot rod angels at Boston Health News
There’s a lot of good reading in this issue – check it out!
Health Wonkery on Twitter
If you just can’t wait a few weeks to get the next update of HWR, here are links to some of the HWR bloggers who are active on Twitter:

Thanksgiving Cavalcade Of Risk, social media, pigeon poop & more

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

For your biweekly risk roundup, check out the Thanksgiving Cavalcade Of Risk posted by Louise at Colorado Health Insurance Insider. Louise always does a great job curating the carnivals.
Is claim frequency on the upswing? – At Comp Time, Roberto Ceniceros says that claims data gathered by Liberty Mutual Group shows frequency trending up.
Another extension for Medicare Secondary Payer requirementsNational Underwriter reports that The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has agreed to delay certain mandatory reporting requirements for workers’ compensation cases under the Medicare Secondary Payer law until January 2012. These requirements had previously been extended to January 2011. The exemption is for liability claims that do not involve on-going medical responsibility, according to officials at the American Insurance Association.
Wheelchair checklist – at Complex Care Blog, Zack Craft offers checklist for wheelchair accessibility in the home for adjusters, nurse case managers and others who are involved in managing the care of injured workers. It’s intended to be used as a starting point for a review at the onset of a claim to to ensure the claimant’s needs are met and to minimize costs and legal issues over the life of the claim.
10 years of preventing needlestick injuries – Over at The Pump Handle, Liz Borkowski informs us that it is the 10th anniversary of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act. Her post includes links to current standards as well as an update of progress since the act’s passage.
Collision course At Today’s Workplace, Roger Bybee has posted a great article on an issue that is heating up: NFL Collision: Management Control vs. Player Safety. He tackles the issue of chronic brain injuries vs an industry with a culture that has touted its violent collisions as a feature. One interesting aspect that Bybee points out is that as advanced helmets got harder, the collisions became more dangerous, not less.
Cool tool of the week – If you’ve been frustrated that you can never access American Medical Association studies, research, and news directly, there’s some good news. Last week, the AMA announced it will open its 10 years of American Medical News archives to the general public. They say: “It represents a rich resource on issues confronting physicians and trends in medicine. Content includes in-depth reporting on the business and regulatory sides of health care, practice management and hot issues in public health and patient care.”
Pigeon poop safety – We admit that pigeon poop is a safety hazard we have never given much thought to, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an important issue. Safety Daily Advisor recommends proper personal protective equipment to protect workers from exposure to serious conditions, including histoplasmosis and cryptococcosis.
Florida’s Sinkhole Belt – OK, it’s not comp-related – at least not so far, but Emily Holbrook of Risk Management Monitor has a fascinating post on how Florida sinkhole claims are skyrocketing. “According to a new state report, for the years 2006 through 2010, sinkhole claims have cost Florida property insurers $1.4 billion — a number that could reach $2 billion by the end of this year.” She links to the state report and a video clip that offer more info about this problem which is one of the state’s major premium cost drivers. Yikes. (We confess that we have been inordinately fascinated with sinkholes since seeing reports of this Guatemalan monster last spring.)
Tweet this – Claire Wilkinson of III’s Insurance Industry Blog posts about a recent research report that notes a big uptick in Fortune-500 insurers who are using Twitter – up from 13 in 2009 to 20 in 2010. That’s either a sign that Twitter is here to stay or that it has jumped the shark, you be the judge. If you aren’t on Twitter yet, what are you waiting for? The following video is more than a year old so already outdated, but it is elucidating about the speed of change in the way we are communicating.

It’s fresh Health Wonk Review and news roundup day

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Grab a coffee and head on over to Hank Stern’s InsureBlog, where he’s posted Health Wonk Review: In the Here and Now. He describes it as a “minimalist” style, which means more meat, less potatoes!
And in other noteworthy news this week:
Twittering insurers – Terry Golesworthy features an interesting post about how insurers are using Twitter, along with lists of insurance leaders by number of followers, by growth and by activity. He observes, “Twitter continues to be used by most insurers to provide soft marketing messages about promotions, sponsorships and customer endorsements. Other activities include financial quizzes, insurance related education materials, warnings regarding impended natural disasters and Facebook announcements. Some insurers do respond publically to customer questions but, largely, this is not the significant activity.” In the comments on his list, insurance agent Ryan Hanley (@AlbanyInsurance) notes that agencies are actually driving the social media movement, and that is based on their using the channel for relationships rather than as a broadcast tool.
Safety is #1 – At The Pump Handle, Celeste Monforton posts that “just in time for the Labor Day holiday,” a new study has been released by the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center, indicating 85 percent of workers rank safety on the job as their top labor standard.
Misclassification – State efforts focusing on employer misclassification continue to be strong and there appears to be a deep vein to mine.

  • In California, Country Builders Inc is paying a whopping $3.9 million in back pay, fines, and payment to the work comp fund as a settlement with a suit filed by the Attorney General for various labor law infractions, including misclassification to avoid workers comp payments. In addition, the company is barred from working on government-funded public works for three years.
  • The New York construction industry should go on notice. Governor Patterson has just signed the Construction Industry Fair Play Act, “…which creates a clear litmus test to distinguish the difference between a worker and an independent contractor. It also provides a method to clearly define which business on a construction project is responsible for which workers. Finally, for the first time in State history, it imposes monetary and criminal penalties specifically for the act of employee misclassification on construction projects.”
  • A new Wisconsin law strengthens enforcement tools for targeting construction misclassification. The law will take effect on January 1.
  • While the construction industry has been a major area of focus, other industries such as the trucking industry have also been targets of probes. And then there is the continuing FedEx driver saga, which my colleague has posted on frequently.

Other employment law litigation – Wal-Mart has appealed for a review by the Supreme Court in a discrimination suit the largest employment discrimination suit in U,S. history. The decade-old case involves more than a million current and former female workers. Steven Greenhouse of The new York Times discusses the issues in the case and the potential $1 billion or more in damages that Wal-Mart could face if the Supreme Court allows a class action suit to proceed.

September is National Preparedness Month – FEMA has designated September as and offers emergency preparation resources for employers. At the Risk Management Monitor blog, commercial risk management expert Brian Smith replies to Emily Holbrook’s questions about disaster preparation and business insurance.

Twitter feeds we recommend

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

For workers’ comp news and other links in between blog posts, we encourage you to follow @workcompinsider on Twitter. If you aren’t yet on Twitter, you may want to think about it. Even if you aren’t ready to engage, it can be a great way to follow industry buzz. You may already be following many blogs and news sources through RSS (syndicated) feeds via news readers – we do, too. But Twitter feeds add diversity and immediacy as well as the potential for engagement. You don’t have to have messages fed to your mobile devices, you can choose to follow folks on your Twitter home page or via a service like TweetDeck.
Here are just a few of the interesting Twitter feeds that we follow – most are insurance- or work-related:
@AIADC – The American Insurance Association “represents approximately 350 major insurance companies that provide all lines of property and casualty insurance”
@sthomas_eea – by Stephanie R Thomas, “economic/statistical expert & consultant specializing in employment issues”
@ijournal – daily insurance news headlines for the Property Casualty industry
@mashable – “The hottest Twitter news, Twitter tips and Twitter help”
@TheClaimsSPOT – Snippets from the blog of Marc Lanzkowsky, founder of Lanzko Consulting “Spotting process improvements & cost savings for claims & related orgs”
@ClaimsMagazine – by Eric Gilkey, Editor-in-Chief of Claims magazine
@safetycommunity – “the first online community created exclusively for the workplace safety industry,” hosted and maintained by the folks at Ansell Occupational Health
@HRHero – by Tony Kessler, Group Publisher at HRHero. Information on employment law for HR and business pros from law firms in all 50 states, D.C., and Canada
@MWConsultingLLC – a company that focuses on OSHA compliance through employee training and proficiency
@NIOSH – The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
@hpandpsafety – “Specialists in workplace safety with emphasis on maintaining OSHA compliance”
@OccHealthSafety – Occupational Health & Safety Magazine; Carla Saavedra, Jr. Web Editor
@Health_Affairs – “The Policy Journal of the Health Sphere”
@workforcenews – News about workforce management and HR issues from Workforce Management magazine
@fastompany – “empowers innovators to challenge convention and create the future of business”

New Health Wonk Review; other news notes

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

If you find the task of following breaking news developments on the health care reform front a trifle daunting, we have a solution: let the health policy blogosphere’s best braniacs dish up and dissect the news for you in bite size portions in the bi-weekly compendium of the best of heath care policy posts. Check out the fresh edition of Health Wonk Review: Crunch Time For Health Reform hosted by Ken Terry at BNET Healthcare Blog.
And in other news:
MHSAThe Pump Handle tells us that Joe Main has been nominated for Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health and posts some info on his background.
Taking the industry economic pulse – With another quarter in the year under our belt, several industry watchers have taken the pulse of the industry’s health. In Business Insurance, Roberto Ceniceros reports that a tough climate is shaping up for workers comp. Among the many problems he notes, he reports that sources have told him that “…rising bankruptcies have insurers concerned that defunct businesses may not pay all their premiums and leave their insurer stuck with claims that should have been paid by the company.” Risk and Insurance features an article on a report from Fitch Ratings which discusses the challenges that the workers compensation market is facing in 2009. According to the report, underwriting performance is expected to worsen in 2009 as rate reductions persist. And we’ve recently noted grim news in the industry at large: first quarter of 2009 was the worst on record for property casualty insurers since quarterly results were first compiled in 1986.
Training – Eric at The Safety Blog reports that OSHA is targeting fraudulent trainers in construction and general industries and is working to strengthen their trainer authorization program. They will be conducting more surprise visits to independent training centers to check for compliance with program requirements. Trainers are authorized to teach and to do outreach training only after completion of a one-week course in an OSHA Training Institute Education Center. Learn more about training certifcation: OSHA Outreach Training Program.
H1N1Lloyd’s warns that pandemics continue to pose a threat to companies – Many feel the flu publicity and warnings earlier in the year were overstated because up until now, the manifestations of the flu have been very mild. According to WHO, there have been 429 fatalities out of 95,412 cases. Yet Lloyd’s points out that it has been having a devastating economic impact on some businesses and notes that, “Up to now flu cases have been relatively mild; however, Lloyd’s warned that “health officials worry that swine flu could mutate during the southern hemisphere winter and return in a more virulent form in the northern hemisphere this winter.” Keep up to date on any developments at Flu.gov.
Waste treatment fatalities – More on last week’s three fatalities at Regal Recycling: Old Story in Waste Removal: A Worker Collapses, Then Rescuers Do: “Dr. Hendrickson and two co-researchers found that in 42 incidences of workers’ dying of hydrogen sulfide toxicity between 1993 and 1997, more than one-fifth involved multiple deaths, including co-workers killed while trying to rescue a colleague. In all, 52 workers died over that period. The deaths have mounted despite strict standards governing work in confined spaces set by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.”
And in another waste treatment plant, a worker recently died of burns suffered in an explosion that occurred while he was cleaning a tanker at CES Environmental Services in Houston. The death was the third at a regional CES operation since December, unleashing criticism from area residents, activists and city officials, who are looking to shut down the plant.
Useful Twitter feeds
@govsites – A searchable directory of any nation’s Government sites on Twitter
@NIOSH – The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
@usdol – Jobs, employment, workforce, safety, labor, government 2.0 issues & regulations news and information from the US Department of Labor
@Disabilitygov – Official U.S. Government Web site for People with Disabilities
@CCOHS – Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
@FluGov – One-stop access to U.S. Government H1N1, avian and pandemic flu information
@VHAVeterans – Veterans Health Administration in the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs
@usfire – Official Twitter account of the U.S. Fire Administration – Working for a Fire-Safe America

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.