Having attended numerous conference sessions on Social Media, in addition to presenting a few as well, much of the content at the ABA Mid Winter Workers' Compensation Conference Social Media session in Chicago last week was not a surprise to me. Still this session, heavily geared to attorneys in the audience, contained some information I…
Writing for Writings Sake While Bound for Chicago
I am headed to Chicago this morning to attend the American Bar Association Mid Winter Workers’ Compensation Conference at the Conrad Hilton Hotel. It appears this year that the words “Chicago” and “Mid Winter” should be taken quite seriously. It apparently snowed half a foot there yesterday and is a whopping 16 degrees this morning.…
The Unassuming Room Where Miracles Occur
There is an unassuming little room here in Florida that could teach us something in the workers' compensation industry. While the purpose of the room has nothing to do with workers' comp, it offers vital lessons in simplicity to those of us mired in the complex legislative myriad of process and procedure that drives our…
Alabama’s Potty Politician Gives Me an Idea….
A very interesting congressional campaign is brewing in the heart of Dixie. Democrat Erick Wright is currently challenging incumbent Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, in Alabama's 2nd Congressional District. Wright portrays himself as an activist, neighbor, friend, consultant and businessman. Apparently Wright is social media savvy, and has a propensity for publishing videos of himself on…
In California Bribe Scandal, Where Were the Applicant Attorneys?
I was quiet last week regarding the burgeoning bribery fraud scandal coming out of California, where a hospital owner essentially has admitted bribing doctors and others to refer patients for possibly unnecessary and overpriced back surgeries in his facilities. The fraud perpetrated by these scumbags is estimated to have cost employers over $500 million, and…
I C D Ugly Future of Medical Billing
There is a change coming to medical coding, and like it or not, it is going to have a major impact on the workers’ compensation industry. In 1979 the United States adopted the International Classification of Diseases version 9, commonly referred to today as ICD-9. It is a listing of 14,000 medical codes that are…
Roasting a Sheriff, Celebrating Sound, and a Plea for Help
As I have written previously, I am an active member of the Sertoma Club of Greater Sarasota, and February and March are a very busy time for me. If you will indulge me for a moment, I’d like to talk about two very important events that I am involved with regarding that club. Sertoma, which…
Death Awaits the Poor Who Sit Alone
Some more happy studies landed on my cluttered desk this morning, but the good news is, despite their negative findings, we can learn from them not just to survive, but to live to screw up another day. The findings, in a nutshell, are this: Being poor increases your chance of dying early by 19%. Being…
Workers' Comp Suit over Helicopter Crash Loses Altitude in Federal Court
Eric Henrikson was an 8 year veteran with the Sacramento County, California Sheriff's Department, when he was severely injured in a helicopter crash. The 2005 crash also killed two other deputies. The injuries Henrikson sustained ended his career, and the county paid out almost $2 million in workers' compensation up until last year. After Henrikson…
Does Claims Stress Increase Disability?
An interesting study caught my eye last week. It seems researchers from Stanford University studying claim history in Australia found that the stress of filing an injury claim may actually increase the severity of disability over the long term. If their results are correct, it should give those of us in the workers’ compensation industry…