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…
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…
At the California Coalition of Workers' Compensation Conference in Anaheim a couple of weeks back, one of the presenters made a comment that resonated with me. The topic was related to innovative claims management practices and had shifted to discussions of return to work and the role of physicians. One of the panelists made an emphatic point of being tired of being given a list of restrictions related to the…
Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye, as can other mistakes in the workplace. A recent minor mishap reminded me that when an error or accident occurs, the best thing you can do is accept the reality and roll with it as best you can. Sometimes, literally. It is a maneuver based on something I call “the art of the tumble.” I traveled to Wisconsin this weekend to…
We have written before about the misaligned incentives often found in workers' compensation. I have referred to it as “treating injured workers for fun and profit,” reflecting situations where actions and processes are applied that may not be in the best interest of the worker, but financially benefit the people who are supposed to be helping them. There is a great deal of responsibility upon those of us in the…
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