From Bob's Cluttered Desk

Former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels once famously said that living next to Illinois is like living next door to the Simpsons, “that dysfunctional family down the street”. Daniels made the comment while his state was the beneficiary of Illinois’ continued problems in getting their fiscal house in order, and employers were busily moving jobs to…

If there is one thing that we understand in the workers’ compensation business, it is that accidents happen on the job; and when they happen people sometimes get hurt. Still, even in the environment where we are accustomed to errors and incidents in the workplace, we don’t normally have to deal with colossal mistakes that…

Imagine if you will a person within a company that, while not managing specific claims or files, can coordinate all benefit activities, including the administration of workers' compensation. They would have direct access to all employees out on leave or off the job, regardless of whether the issue is FMLA, ADA or workers' comp. They…

The Keynote at this week’s DMEC Annual Conference in San Francisco provided an interesting presentation about generational shifts and differences happening in the workplace today. The speaker, best selling author Lindsey Pollak, a seemingly disgruntled Gen-X’r (not really) and “nationally recognized Millennial workplace expert”, gave the audience an informative and entertaining look at the generational…

There is far more to Disability Management than just the embracing of workers' compensation and it's injury related issues. That does not mean, however, that the workers' compensation community should not fully embrace the concept of Disability Management. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be happening.  I am attending the annual conference of the Disability…

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) is conducting a “Policy Collaborative” called “Establishing Work and Full Participation as Accountable Health Outcomes Online Dialogue”. That is a fancy shmancy policy wonky way of saying, “We're looking for ways to keep injured people working and contributing instead of languishing on disability, and…

I am traveling to San Francisco next week to attend the annual conference of the Disability Management Employer Coalition. It will be the first time I have attended this particular event. The conference runs August 2 – 5, 2015 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis Hotel. Founded in 1992, the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC)…

We live in difficult times. Economic stagnation, changing societal standards, nuclear proliferation, increasing obesity and disease, political upheaval, Justin Bieber, racial strife, and the unexplainable popularity of the Kardashians, just to name a few. But these things are minor compared to the really big issue of the day; trying to keep abreast of the latest…

I must admit, there are elements of medical care in the United States that just plumb confound me. One of those elements is the requirement of a prescription for the most mundane of items, particularly when you think about where we could be focusing our efforts. Please indulge me a moment while I ‘splain the…