Over the past couple of years, the number of AI presentations and vendors at industry conferences has been almost overwhelming. Deciding which ones to attend feels a bit like my first visit to VooDoo Doughnut—so many choices, each with a different topping or filling. Are they all the same, just with different packaging? Or does one have something truly unique to offer? Will I pick the right one? Yet, despite…
In my June 27, 2023 article, Trauma-Informed Practices and Workers’ Comp…, I mentioned motivational interviewing (MI) as another health-related intervention that can also improve outcomes for workers and employers in the workers’ compensation system. In other words, another tool to prevent or mitigate unnecessary work disability. MI is a counseling approach that can support a shift in the culture of our industry. Claim professionals can use MI to activate customers,…
The workers’ compensation and health care industries are partners in many ways – when medical and mental health services are well delivered, our customers, both workers and employers, benefit. So why not look to some important changes in the culture and practices of medical and mental/behavioral health professionals as we seek to continually improve the delivery of our services? For example, consider trauma-informed practices and motivational interviewing (the second being…
I hope many of you had the opportunity to attend or listen to the recording of the recent webinar “Claims Advocacy: What It Is and What It Isn’t” offered through WorkCompCollege.com. (If not, you can access the recording here). The time of the webinar conflicted with a meeting on my calendar – coincidentally, with other members of the Survey Council for the national Workers’ Compensation Benchmarking Study, a group that tirelessly supports…
It seems the workers’ compensation and health care industries are always changing – what might be ahead as both clinical and non-clinical best practice research continue to evolve? There are some significant opportunities on the horizon to identify and mitigate psychosocial risk factors and social determinants of health – considerations unique to a worker that compound needless work disability. These issues are often misunderstood or lumped together as though they…
In a prior article, I wrote about “The Difference Between Workers’ Compensation and Workers’ Recovery ” and I said that words matter. They do, but as we consider what’s ultimately important, let’s not overthink it. “Workers’ compensation” or “workers’ recovery?” To help answer this continuing question, perhaps we should first consider the history of our industry and where the term “workers’ compensation” likely started. Workers’ comp laws replaced cumbersome, expensive and…
An excerpt from “Curing” Work Disability….an “Expert’s View” article published on July 29, 2021 on WorkersCompensation.com “Work Disability”….a new term to you? A term you've just recently heard used? Or a condition that you're a subject matter expert in? If you have a role - any role - in a workers' compensation system, you should be striving for the latter. Understanding work disability, what it is and how to prevent…
We’ve all heard leaders from within workers’ compensation advocate that our industry should be re-labeled to appropriately address the outcome for anyone hurt on the job: recovery, not compensation. And, while words matter, it’s more than that. Workers’ recovery is about recognizing that return to work is part of the recovery process and, therefore, an important goal of an ideal system. It's about eliminating delays and complexities of our systems,…
By Vickie Kennedy For those of you who don’t know me, you’re probably asking yourself how “Missives from the Queen” have anything to do with workers’ compensation? While the catchy title may have gotten your attention (as hoped!), there really is more to it than that. As history, when I was in my early teens, I learned that I share my birthday with Queen Victoria. Interestingly, the family story (perhaps…
