From Bob's Cluttered Desk

In the realm of workers’ compensation, the impact of psychosocial factors on claim outcomes has been a topic of considerable interest and debate. At the WCRI Conference in Boston, MA, a presentation titled “Psychological Risk Factors and Functional Recovery” shed light on this issue. The presenters, Vennela Thumula, a Policy Analyst with WCRI, and Dr.…

In a keynote presentation at the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) Annual Issues and Research Conference, David Cutler, Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics at Harvard University, discussed the current state of healthcare in the United States and his predictions for the future. Cutler highlighted the uncertainty in the healthcare environment, citing factors such as…

The ostensible implosion and suspension this past week of the image generating feature of Google’s newly released Artificial Intelligence offering, Gemini, has furthered suspicions and fears about the potential foibles and threats of the technology. It has been widely reported that Gemini’s’ bias would not allow it to generate images of white people and instead would only…

As March approaches, the anticipation for the 40th Annual WCRI Issues & Research Conference is building among professionals in the workers’ compensation field. Scheduled for March 5-6, 2024, in Boston, MA, this event promises once again to be a cornerstone for those seeking to understand and navigate the complexities within our workers’ compensation systems. And I…

I understand the United States Postal Service has some major challenges. They run 31,330 post office locations in the US, some of them with automatic postage dispensers in actual working order. In 2022, they delivered 127.3 billion pieces of mail. They suspiciously do not report how many pieces are submitted to them, but they do…

Far be it for me to offer two blog posts in a row that reference the entertainment franchise, Star Trek. I am not a “Trekkie nerd” by any stretch of the imagination, although I do enjoy many of the 973 or so series the concept has spawned. Through many episodes there are numerous references and…

To be honest, this post doesn’t have much to do with Star Trek. Ok, it has nothing to do with Star Trek, except for a clever play on words designed to suck you in and take you along for a joy ride of erudition.  Or not. Whatever, you’ve come this far. Might as well slug…

It’s hard to believe that it has been 6 months since I last posted an article in my blog. It is the longest writing hiatus since I started blogging well over a decade ago. Truth be told, as much as I have enjoyed writing, my business activities at WorkCompCollege.com seem to have taken up all…

Last week’s WCRI Annual Conference theme was “Disruption, Resilience, and Evolution,” and it did not disappoint. Held in Phoenix, Arizona, it offered comprehensive information about the current state of the workers’ compensation industry, along with insight into what we might expect in the future. The selection of Phoenix for this year’s event proved to be…

I was directed by a friend to an article on LinkedIn a few weeks back that generally railed against the nanny state and all of the ridiculous laws we must endure intended to control every facet of our lives. While the article’s tone was a bit intense for my taste, I generally agreed with much of what…