The Best Tidbits of News from the Workers Comp Community

LRP National Workers Compensation and Disability Conference Agenda Posted

For 20 years, the National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference^® & Expo has been the industry’s leading training event. It offers cutting-edge, yet practical solutions for your workers’ comp, disability management and RTW programs. This year’s event is promised to take it to the next level – see the agenda posted here.

A “permanently disabled” person finds his way back to ability

Watch this inspirational video posted to the Workers Comp Roundtable by Dr. Marianne Cloeren, Medical Director at Managed Care Advisors. She states “This video is worth the time to watch. The transformation of this disabled vet is inspirational. Here is our challenge: how can we help the clients/claimants/ patients/injured workers (people) we work with grasp that the power to change rests within them?”[WCx]

VIDEO: Never Give Up

Lexis Nexis Communities Top Stories:

Getting a Grip on Conditions for Use of the Grip Loss Metric in the AMA Guides Fifth Edition

Posted by

Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

The AMA Guides generally disfavors grip loss as a measurement for rating a whole person impairment (WPI). (See AMA Guides Fifth Edition, page 508.) However, a series of recent WCAB panel decisions indicate that there may be circumstances when the grip loss metric is the most accurate tool for assessing an injured worker’s (WPI). Use of the grip loss measurement generally results in a much higher permanent disability (PD) rating for the injured worker. Read More…

Larson’s Spotlight on Recent Cases: Civil Action Against Supervisor Moves Forward

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Larson’s Spotlight

Larson’s Spotlight on Civil Action Against Co-Employee, Exclusive Remedy, Volunteer Status, and Causation Involving Fatal Overdose. Larson’s surveys the latest case developments that you need to know about. Thomas A. Robinson, the staff writer forLarson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, has compiled the list below. Read More…

Support Lexis Nexis on the Social Madness Corporate Challenge!

Posted by

LexisNexis Workers’ Comp Law Community Staff

The Social Madness corporate challenge has kicked off, and LexisNexis is one of 60 Dayton-area companies selected to compete in this social media competition hosted by the Dayton Business Journal and its parent, American City Business Journals.

The three national winners of the challenge will be able to designate a favorite charity to receive a $10,000 donation. Read More…

Narcotics Use Mismanaged: Guidelines Ignored

Posted by

John Stahl

The most disturbing conclusion that the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) presented in a webinar entitled “Use of Narcotics and Compliance with Guidelines” was that many workers’ compensation claimants (claimants) who were prescribed narcotics were not provided recommended services for monitoring and managing long-term use of those drugs. These services included overseeing that use and treating its ill effects.

Other major findings were:

1) Most claimants who were prescribed pain medication for compensable harm were prescribed narcotics; and

2) Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and New York had particularly high usages of narcotics.

We reached an important milestone this week, and we want to once again thank you for your continued efforts in building what we believe to be an excellent group. We passed the 5,000 member mark this week, only the 2nd workers’ comp group ever to do so on LinkedIn.

In fact, we’ve added 4,500 members in just the last 18 months, and if you search Groups here on LinkedIn for “workers’ compensation”, you will find we are the #1 result they return. The Group Search page was “recently updated to make it easier for you to find the most valuable places to network”, and at the time of the upgrade they announced that they made these determinations on the “relevance and quality” of the discussions in the groups. Showing up first in that search result is a huge compliment for our community! Read More…[WCx]

Author Michael B. Stack, CPA, Director of Operations, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in employer communication systems and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. He is a writer, speaker, and website publisher. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.

WORKERS COMP MANAGEMENT MANUAL: www.WCManual.com

Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers comp issues.