24 July 2014 | The Self-Insurer © Self-Insurers’ Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.

WORKER’S COMPENSATION

2014 CONFERENCE RECAP

EXECUTIVE FORUM

© Self-Insurers’ Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. The Self-Insurer | July 2014 25

SIIA’s 16th Annual Self-Insured

Workers’ Compensation

Executive Forum, the country’s

premier association-sponsored

conference dedicated exclusively to self-

insured Workers’ Compensation funds,

took place at the iconic Eden Roc hotel

in Miami Beach, FL May 20-21st.

Group Self-Insured Workers’

Comp Fund Executives/Directors,

Workers’ Compensation Self-

Insurers, Third Party Administrators,

Excess Insurance Carrier/Reinsurers,

Attorneys, Accountants/Actuaries, Risk

Management Consultants and Industry

Service Providers took advantage of

the superior educational program,

networking opportunities and the

beautiful South Florida weather.

One of the highlights of this year’s

Forum was award winning author and

business speaker Mark Scharenbroich,

who gave an unforgettable and

entertaining keynote presentation

detailing his “Nice Bike” principle.

Other educational sessions included:

Predictive Analytics Pam Finch, Vice President,

Alternative Service Concepts, LLC

(ASC), Marcos Iglesias, MD, MMM,

FAAFP, FACOEM, Medical Director,

Midwest Employers Casualty

Company, and Mark Sidney, Vice

President of Claims, Midwest Employers

Casualty Company provided a case

study of how data analytics are

a critical component to pinpoint

potential problem claims. They

explained how early identification

of a high risk claim can open the

door for early intervention, which

can drive down ultimate loss costs

and successful interventions lead to

better outcomes for the claimant and

reduced Worker’s Compensation

claims costs for the employer.

Integrated Disability Management: The Value of Engaging a Total Absence Management Program Approach. “Absence Does Not Make the Heart Grow Fonder”

Edmund C. Corcoran Jr., Esq., Director, Enterprise Absence Management, Raytheon Company and Josh Zirin, Casualty Actuarial Practice, Dion Strategic Consulting Inc. presented information on how combining claims management for WC, Benefits and Disability can help identify and protect fraud for both employees and vendors. Total Absence Management looks at employee absence broadly, both work and non-work related, focusing on illness and disability and promotes recovery and return to work. They discussed the components of a Total Absence Management program, and one employer’s experience. The presentation concluded with measuring costs and savings.

Safety Training that Sticks

Mark Meek, CSP, Safety Manager at Advance Auto Parts highlighted an award winning effective safety training strategy that is working and provided a blueprint on how to make it happen. He described how effective safety training for thousands of employees, spread across thousands of locations can be challenging, and explained how to make training memorable, providing consistency in the safety message and how to get to the point where employees actually look forward to training and are able to retain all of the information.

Opioids Case Study Kaylea M. Boutwell, MD,

Interventional Pain Management Specialist at Pain and Rehabilitation

Specialists of St Louis presented a case study of an injured worker and his family, and their struggle with his failed surgeries, depression and opioid addiction. George Furlong, Senior Vice President Managed Care Program Outcomes Analysis, Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. continued the session by discussing results from a predictive analytics study which used injured worker data to accurately predict who will become a long-term opioid user. Predictive modeling can more effectively examine all available historical data assets, identify a greater number of potential predictors, take into account interactions among predictors, and utilize the most impactful ones in order to accurately predict an outcome. By addressing the multiple stakeholders involved, positive impact can be made to the injured worker’s therapeutic care.

Taking Your TPA from Good to Great

Barry Bloom, Principal at The bdb Group showed attendees how to take a good TPA program and make it great, including claim program blueprinting, the difference in “pushing” the marketplace vs. “pulling” the marketplace, how to find the right claim partners, full cost benchmarking, Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), incentive programs, claim administration costs vs. claim costs, data blueprints, plan execution and ROI analyses.

The Human Factor: Using Integrity and Safety Related Personality Assessments to Screen Out High Risk Applicants and Prevent Workplace Incidents

Dennis Fox, Founder and President of the Client Development Institute presented research findings and

26 July 2014 | The Self-Insurer © Self-Insurers’ Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.

The best defense...

Win your market with a winning workplace. Defend your most important asset: your employees. With a benefits plan from

HealthSmart, you’ll have a healthier, more productive workforce, as well as

a healthier bottom line. We support and empower your employees to attain

optimal health through engaging wellness and disease management programs.

And for every dollar HealthSmart clients spend on case management, they

save nine.

We are the nation’s largest independent administrator of health plans for

self-funded employers—in 2013, our 1,600+ team members paid more than

$3 billion in medical claims for nearly 1,000,000 members. Our mission is to

improve the health of our members and lower the cost of healthcare.

Find out how we can create a win for you.

sales@healthsmart.com

is a good offense.

case studies on how organizations can identify prospective high risk behavior employees and those with an “entitlement mentality” through state- of- the art online testing systems.

Using Captive Insurance Companies to Support Self-Insured Groups (SIGs)

Charles Caldwell, President & CEO, Midlands Management Corporation, William L. Shores, President, Shores, Tagman, Butler & Company, P.A., and Bill Yaeger, President, McNeary, Inc. discussed how captive insurance companies are used to supplement and enhance group funds. A case study was presented showing how the captive supports the Workers Comp Fund’s reinsurance program, provides contingency plan and low-cost risk financing plan for other cells through a rent-a-captive structure.

Occupational Wellness: Wellness and Workers’ Compensation

T. Warner Hudson, M.D., Medical Director, UCLA Medical Center Occupational Health Facility discussed the University of California’s innovative use of WorkStrong wellness program including the some of the roadblocks, successes and failures they have faced in implementing the program, emphasizing that personal health risks can predict Workers Comp costs. Mark Priven, FCAS, MAAA, Director, Regulatory & Alternative Risk Consulting for Bickmore then gave an actuarial analysis of the WorkStrong program, providing a breakdown in claims, claim costs, claim size and claim reporting patterns. He concluded by giving an analysis of the estimated savings.

Chasing the Work Comp Tail: Self-Insured Group Panel

The educational program concluded with a SIG panel discussion with Freda Bacon, Administrator of the Alabama Self-Insured Workers’ Comp Fund, Christopher J. Burkhalter, Vice President and Principal, Bickerstaff, Whatley, Ryan & Burkhalter, Todd Greer, Senior Vice President, Insurance Program Managers Group, and David G. Johnson, Esq., Corporate Counsel, Self Insured Solutions discussed some of the biggest issues facing SIG’s today, such as adverse loss development, joint and several liability collection, loss portfolio transfers, regulatory changes and structured settlement options. n

PROVIDING SERVICE TO THE SELF INSURANCE INDUSTRY FOR OVER 36 YEARS IN OVER 30 STATES

Audits Tax Preparation, Compliance and Minimization NAIC Annual Statements, assistance and preparation Management Consultation Expert Witness Regulatory Matters Contact: William L. Shores, CPA 17 S. Magnolia Ave. Orlando, Florida 32801 (407) 872-0744 Ext. 214 Lshores@shorescpa.com