Workers’ Compensation, as an industry, has a marketing problem. It is probably better described as a messaging problem. It has long been true that the industry has been broadly defined by the negative stories that find their way into local and national press publications and media outlets. We have been generally ineffective at countering that public perception, even though the vast majority of workers’ compensation claims go through the system…
Every craftsman needs the proper tools with which to complete their tasks. Each tool has a different scope and purpose, intended to perform a function within the overall mission at hand. Knowing what tool to use and when to use it is as much a part of a master’s skillset as the use of the tool itself. Selecting the wrong tool at the wrong time often slows the project and…
Last week, I attended the 74th Annual Convention of the Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (SAWCA). As I have done for the past 8 years or so, I moderated the event's closing session, called “Things That Make Bob Go, Hmmm.” It is a panel where I am allowed to select the guests and discuss, well, anything that makes me go “hmmm.” At an earlier point of the conference, during a Regulators…
Create a culture to get proper feedback from subordinates One of the most interesting executives I have ever worked for was mercurial. The verbal beatings he gave were legendary. His insight and intuitive understanding of the workers' compensation system was also unparalleled. He created a very profitable company by wringing out the best from his employees. However, few of the senior executives survived more than a few years working for him. A result of…
It is safe to say that we do not know that which we do not know. However, intelligent people tend to recognize there are things they do not know, they just have not yet had the opportunity to learn what they have yet to know at some point. Or something like that. Ok, it was a long holiday weekend and there has been a lot going on. You’ll have to…
In recognition that September is international Pain Awareness Month (“#MyPainPlan focuses on the vital importance of an individualized, multidisciplinary, multimodal approach to pain care”), I am republishing my August 3, 2017 LinkedIn blogpost entitled “Appropriate, Not Zero, Opioids.” It is as relevant and true on September 21, 2020 as it was when I originally wrote it. I hope it again re-centers our attention on the journey towards helping people live a full life…
This was originally published on 9/24/20 on a different platform. An article in the June 2020 edition of CLM Magazine entitled “Be Kind and Keep It Simple” piqued my interest in the success of an advocacy program at Fidelity National Financial in Jacksonville, FL. Specifically, the nationwide director of safety and claims management who was responsible for envisioning and implementing the advocacy program, Kimberly Simmons. So I arranged a phone…
You've probably used the term "mañana" even if you don't speak Spanish. While many think it means tomorrow, Merriam-Webster defines it as "an indefinite time in the future." With either understanding, it definitely means deferral. What did you not do yesterday by deferring it until mañana? Even though you had the same 86,400 seconds yesterday that you had the day before and that you have today, was there at least one thing…
Everyone agrees that workers' compensation is too complicated. But one aspect of it rises above others on the complicated scale – permanent partial disability benefits. The difficulty of finding the right balance for permanent partial disability benefits is at the heart of the differences among approaches, and it started with the grand bargain itself. The grand bargain means that benefits for workers' compensation claims aren't determined like claims based on…
Have you ever thought about whether you could live on your state's temporary total disability (TTD) benefits if you had a workers' compensation injury? It's a scary thought. The benefits in most states have formulas that begin with an injured worker's average weekly wage based on the prior 52 weeks' wages and multiply it by 66 2/3%. Then the resulting amount cannot exceed the maximum weekly wage for TTD benefits…
