From Bob's Cluttered Desk

A report issued this month claims that, as of last year, eight out of 12 Canadian workers’ compensation boards are overfunded by a total of $6.8 billion. In Canada, all boards are monopolistic, completely managing the workers’ compensation process for their provinces, from underwriting to claims administration. The group issuing the report, the Canadian Federation…

I started this blog, From Bob’s Cluttered Desk, in August of 2011. I can’t say I had a grand vision on where I wanted to go with it, or if it would be something I would even stick with. I literally decided in a single day that I wanted an area in which to occasionally…

Today at the 6th Annual Comp Laude® Conference, one of the sessions was a discussion with bestselling author, Dr. Robert Pearl. Pearl is the author of the book “Mistreated – Why We Think We Are Getting Good Healthcare and Why We’re Usually Wrong”. He covered many interesting points regarding the realities of medicine in our…

Far be it for me to be disagreeable, however, as so often is the case, disagree I must. I attended the annual conference for the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network a week ago in Atlanta. One of the sessions, designed to talk about the transition from claim management to litigation, accidentally meandered on to the…

Earlier this week I wrote about a somewhat negative experience I encountered that involved the health care arena. Today I am very pleased to be able to counter that story with a very positive tale, indeed. I recently had an elderly relative who was hospitalized over several days for what turned out to be a relatively…

This afternoon I am scheduled for my annual physical. I don’t really know how it happened. I normally only have my annual physical once every 5 to 10 years, yet my last one was just, well, one year ago. My doctor somehow tricked me into scheduling this four years early. I am going to have…

I honestly did not know what to expect, yet I was somewhat shocked by the results. And it is making me rethink much about our current educational strategies. I’ve had the tremendous fortune over the last few years to present at numerous conferences and seminars about various areas of workers’ compensation. Many of those presentations…

Last week, during a presentation at the annual conference of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC), there was some spirited discussion between the panel and attendees. The session, “The Mind is Key”, was designed to help people understand and hear about effective psychological interventions, as well as how they are being…

As many of you know, from time to time I wander from the dusty realm of workers’ compensation topics in order to offer opinions and insight (what I believe to be insight, anyway) on important (at least important to me) topics of the day. This is one such moment. As a so called “road warrior”…

I am encouraged that, more and more, I am hearing the impact of bio psychosocial issues on workers’ compensation being discussed at conferences I attend around the nation. My visit to the 103rd Annual Convention of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC) was no exception to this trend. The conference was…