Workers Compensation Roundtable Happenings on LinkedIn

This week discussions on the Roundtable were all over – from postings of studies to people asking for help. Read on and find out what you missed.

Our fearless group leader and president of WorkersCompensation.com, Robert Wilson, attended the Florida RIMS Educational Conference this week. He wrote a great article gleaned from a talk there called, Darrell Brown On Medical Marijuana.

At Work Comp Roundup we do all the reading for you and bring you just the important things going on at the 2,000-strong LinkedIN WC group – Workers Compensation Roundtable.

Carey Ransom, CEO of RealPractice and an attorney in marketing and practice management software, shared a link to a story he wrote asking whether you should ask someone where they found you. Read it here. Many others shared and commented on the article

David DePaolo, president at WorkCompCentral in the greater Los Angeles area posted this study on back injuries and how they are associated with further post-settlement legal cases. DePaolo writes, “Who would have ever thought to study this? But this demonstrates the far-reaching social science tentacles of workers compensation.” DePaolo also posted this article on a new pricing tactic — auctions to negotiate contracts — that frightens attorneys. He also posted this blog he wrote: Ogilvie Court Does a Disservice to California. And another on how the complexity of workers compensation is just a part of life.

Lisa Hughes, an RN, CLNC from Louisiana posted this article asking if work-at-home employees are entitled to workers compensation. Her comments prompted others to list how this is handled in their state or nation.

Andrew Kenneally, a Boston public affairs and government relations professional posted this article analyzing the new WCRI study on physicians dispensing prescriptions in Florida. He also reminds readers they can save $100 they register for WCRI’s 28th Annual Issues & Research Conference by Sept. 30. More information on the conference can be found here.

Alberto Salgado, an MPN coordinator and lead client services liaison at GENEX Services, Inc., in Orange County, California, asks: “Medicare Conditional Payments and WC – Can reimbursements to CMS be re-calculated at states’ WC fee schedules (FS)?” He offers some background and has so far received one answer, “No.”

John Routhier, vice president of sales operations at Crowe Paradis Services Corp., in Boston posted an article he authored that explains how Section 111 error rates matter. Read it here. He writes, “Error rates are the single best way to measure not only successful reporting but also the burden your solution places on claims staff.”

Kevin McCarthy, vice president of national accounts at Risk Metrics Corp., Data as a Service (DaaS) for the commercial insurance industry in West Palm Beach, Florida, posted this article listing the A.M Best’s ranking of top 25 workers compensation writers.

Kevin Kidd, a workers compensation administrator at PeopleSystems in Syracuse, N.Y., asked about a specific injury case in which an employee originally felt fine and then experienced swelling later. Kidd wants to know if this can be treated as a first aid case and handled in-house. He received 10 varied responses here, most suggesting he send all information to the carrier.

Keri Rheinfrank, senior claims Adjuster at Catholic Mutual Group in Omaha, asks this question, “I wanted some feedback if possible about what others do to monitor compliance in work comp for multiple jurisdictions.”

Stephen Leider, a partner at Clinical Integration in the greater Los Angeles area offers this link to a return-to-work study. He is trying to get 1,000 responses and says the goal is “To identify best practices and barriers to successful SAW/RTW as perceived by over a dozen stakeholders in different countries (although the survey is only in English) – so we can learn from one another.”

And James Cronin, MPA, CFE, owner of Seattle Insurance and Legal Investigations states here that he is looking to find other professionals in Washington State re: Needed WC Legislative Changes.

Still pulling in discussion are these topics from last week’s roundup:

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There is lots more going on at LinkedIn’s Workers Compensation Roundtable right now and right here! Better yet, invite your friends so they too can become informed on hot topics in the Workers Compensation industry.

Workers Compensation Roundtable is jointly managed by people dedicated to the concept that workers compensation is a manageable line on your expense ledger, and that informed professionals are empowered achievers. Workers’ compensation is not simply a cost of doing business, it is a cost that can be controlled. Beginning with an assessment of cost drivers, benchmarking data, and integrating the solutions, employers can reduce workers’ comp costs 20 to 50 percent. With proper information, professionals managing compensation claims can reduce costs and improve outcomes for all stakeholders in the process. This group is for employers, business owners, risk managers, HR managers, insurance executives, and brokers to discuss the obstacles and strategies to overcome them.