National Trends in Workers' Compensation

Thursday, August 15, 2013 | 0

Editor’s Note: The 68th annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference (WCEC) will be held Aug. 18-21 at the Orlando World Center Marriott. This article is part of a series by Program Chair Steve Rissman highlighting some of the upcoming sessions.

One of the WCEC’s longest-running programs on national issues is called “National Trends in Workers’ Compensation.” This is a blockbuster two-day program of assembled experts from all over the country discussing issues of significant importance to the industry. National Trends takes place on Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 19 and 20.

Our first presentation, on Monday, is a cutting-edge discussion on “Emerging Exposures” where we talk about “newer” kinds of accidents and exposures that are beginning to creep into the workplace. Just when we think we have a handle on the risks in workers’ compensation, new exposures bring new challenges. How do you price these out? How do you take a proactive approach to these exposures? To address those questions and more, we have assembled a serious group of thinkers who can offer insights from an insurance company standpoint, a TPA standpoint and a large national employer standpoint. The panel is moderated by Jim Ryan from Sedgwick and the panelists are Monica Lichenstein from Aramark and John Santulli from PMA. How do you top that?

Everyone is talking about metrics in 2013. Unfortunately, not everybody understands what they are talking about. That is why we are presenting this critical and timely session called, “Savings Isn’t Everything: What is Your Data Really Telling You About Quality?” Most importantly, this group of data experts will give tips on crunching numbers for nondata professionals. All of us know that metrics and data analysis are critical, but many of us don’t have the background to fully understand it or to ask the proper questions. That is the goal of this panel, which consists of Moderator Jennifer Hermann, the director of data analytics from MedRisk, Jerry Poole from Acrometis, Jeffrey White from Accident Fund Holdings and Great White Software and George Furlong from Sedgwick.

We return on Tuesday, Aug. 20 for one of the star programs of the convention. It has been an audience favorite for many years now. Bob Hartwig from Insurance Information Institute and Jeff Eddinger from the National Council on Compensation Insurance, led by our moderator, Joan Collier, give us a “by the numbers” talk about the state and health of our industry. Much has happened in the world of workers’ compensation in the past year and Eddinger and Hartwig are the best tag team duo in the nation when it comes to sharing insider information with you.

The final National Trends presentation on Tuesday is perhaps the most cutting edge of the entire convention. It is a discussion of real-world tragic events called, “The Emergence of Extreme Violence in the Workplace.” In order to discuss this sensitive and important issue we have assembled a blockbuster group. Jennifer Tomlin from Zurich is our guide. Her panel consists of Susan Gordon and Chris Calloway, both from Zurich, talking about violence in the workplace from an underwriting and a claims standpoint. Just when you thought we could not pack this panel with any more dynamic speakers, we have added Scott Clark, the risk manager for Miami-Dade County School Board, who will talk about his plan on how to deal with violence in the school system, reflected in tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School case.