I have always been a visual learner. Watching how to conduct a specific procedure was much easier for me than reading about it. I have taken on this challenge of producing a written blog on a weekly basis, attempting to elevate the skill set of those who consume this material. I have come to learn that writing is so much more difficult than speaking. When we speak, there are facial…
Welcome back to class, friends! Sharpen those pencils and grab your calculators. Today we are heading into Math Class. In workers’ compensation, so much of our world is built on logic, planning, and pattern recognition. From setting reserves to structuring return-to-work plans, success comes down to how we connect data and human insight. This week, we are talking about reasoning models, the next evolution in AI tools designed to “think” before…
Executive Briefing This paper focuses on the business case for strategic investment in injury prevention and quality claims administration. The central pillar of this process is calculating the Total Cost of Risk (TCOR), which helps the employer calculate indirect costs accurately. Many companies dramatically underestimate the actual financial impact of workplace injuries. While the direct costs of claims and premiums are visible, the actual indirect costs are rarely included when…
Welcome back, classmates! Last week we spent our time in the library, learning how to organize prompts into a prompt library using the SCORE framework. Libraries make our lives easier because they keep resources consistent, efficient, and shareable. This is great and also…what if you find yourself using the same cluster of prompts over and over again, each time adding the same background information? It’s time to get more efficient.…
Why Grit, Why Now During our strategic planning late last year, our leadership team selected “grit” as our word of the year. Each team member approached the whiteboard and wrote down words that resonated with them and would help define the year ahead. Words like resilience, perseverance, and adaptability all pointed us toward a single theme: grit. For several years, we’ve used the One Word approach inspired by bestselling author Jon Gordon. The exercise is simple: choose…
Experience and Perspective in Workers’ Compensation For the record, I have been providing cost-containment services to the workers compensation ecosystem for more than 30 years. At times, I must admit that my serum cynicism level is off the charts. But then again, I get to see those cases that have become problematic and that most of the files being straightforward people seeking straightforward answers to the compensable injuries sustained. The…
Welcome back, classmates! If last week’s English lesson taught us the art of crafting strong prompts, then today we head to the library, my favorite place in school! The library has always been a place of organization, inspiration, and discovery. In the world of artificial intelligence, that is exactly what a prompt library can be. We define a prompt library as a curated collection of prompts that saves us time, fuels creativity,…
Voice of the Provider is a collaboration between Brooks Rehabilitation and WorkCompCollege.com and the name defines its purpose. Many stakeholders in work comp do not understand or appreciate all of the various clinical providers that help an injured employee return to and stay at work. Whether recovery from the injury / illness is easy or hard, there are clinicians along the way that utilize their education, expertise and experience to…
The Reality We Face When I was the Group Vice President of Risk Management for Safeway, we were the largest employer of individuals with disabilities in the United States. Among our hundreds of thousands of employees, those with disabilities—including many on the autism spectrum—were consistently among our hardest-working, most dependable, and lowest-risk workers. They showed up every day. They followed procedures meticulously. They cared deeply about doing things right. But…
When a worker is injured on the job, the physical recovery is only part of a much larger journey. The emotional and psychological impact can be just as significant as the physical injury—especially when it comes to how supported, informed, and valued that worker feels throughout the workers' compensation process. The “Voice of the Injured Worker” series exists to bring that human experience to the forefront, because behind every claim number is a person navigating…
