Ah, the holidays! You know they are in full swing when the first store security guards are trampled on Thanksgiving and our first Santa of the year has been arrested for elf groping. That is earlier than usual, but after all, there are 6 less groping days till Christmas this year. A 62 year…
Innovation Through Communication
Last week I participated in a “National Bloggers Panel” at the National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference in Las Vegas. While the discussion was spirited and covered a number of issues, there was a moment of clarity provided for me by my friend, competitor and semi-professional SpongeBob impressionist Dave Depaolo. We were talking about innovation…
Leaving Las Vegas: 2013 Rumination's and Confessions from the National Conference
Another National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference is behind us, and the industry once again takes a bottle of aspirin, shaves its tongue, packs up in Las Vegas and heads home to deploy all the new information it learned. But first it will take a long Thanksgiving weekend. It will get around to deploying its…
Iowa SC Decision Affirming Benefits Highlights Complexity of Undocumented Worker Issue
A decision by the Iowa Supreme Court issued last Friday, affirming the award of healing benefits to illegal aliens (Yes, I still use that politically incorrect term), highlights the many issues we face on this particular topic. In the case Jimenez vs. Staff Management, the court upheld a lower courts decision that benefits should be…
The Most Important Passenger On the Plane
I’ve said it before; we are an industry based in injury, pain and death. People in workers’ compensation are immersed in those elements on a daily basis. Still, at a time when we come full face with a story of personal sacrifice and honor, it all seems to pale in comparison. My flight to Las…
As We Gather in Las Vegas
It must be fall. In many parts of the country the leaves have turned, the air is brisk, and the workers’ compensation industry packs it’s bags and heads to Las Vegas. This week marks the 22nd Annual National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference, being held at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. It is an annual…
On the Job @SouthwestAir, Words Matter
I've spoken a great deal on changing the style and depth of communication within the workers' compensation industry. Better communication will yield better results for the employers and injured workers that we serve. We had a terrific example this week, showing what we say and how we say it – even by accident – can…
The Virility of Viralness, Visionaries and Morons from the Virtual Soapbox
I read posts from two different bloggers recently that made me think about the reach and effectiveness of what we do. One article was from a blogger discussing what it felt like to have one of her articles “go viral”. She had written about a particular programming language that may have applications in the insurance…
I Would Have Sent a Stern Letter
We discuss many types of jobs and injuries in this blog. Rarely though, do we find a job related injury to be intentional in nature while based in pure, raw emotion. This is the reality of today’s topic du jour. There is no easy way to say it, so here goes. A self mutilating performance…
Right Answer, Wrong Answer: PA Court Decision Shows the Peril of Special Presumptions
A case last week resulting in the award of workers’ compensation benefits to a police officer may not have been wrong based on the argument; instead I question whether the argument was correct to begin with. Pennsylvania Trooper Philip Payes suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after striking and killing a 28 year old woman who ran…