New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, certainly generates more than its fair share of odd stories given its relatively light population base, and for some reason the oddest ones occur near my scheduled trips to the state. I was there a couple weeks ago and will be returning again immediately following the national workers' comp…
IDS CompMark Claims Data Benchmarking System is Outstanding Idea, Long Overdue
Several of us in the workers’ comp blogosphere have lamented that the industry has lacked, and could truly benefit from, a claims history database offering clear, anonymized data from multiple operations; provided in a useful platform that would allow us to truly gauge and improve our effectiveness as an industry. Lament no more. That system…
Assault with a Dead Weapon
In what has to go down in the annals of bar brawling as the “Worst Bar Fight Ever”, a potential tragedy was avoided last week when a man who had been slapped for inappropriately touching another man's chest had his revenge seeking chainsaw stall before he could do anyone harm. And to round out the…
Compensability for Sexual Thunder Blunder Down Under Cast Asunder
Even though my friend, Alabama Attorney Mike Fish, beat me to the punch with this morning's missive on our Blogwire, I simply had to weigh in. After all, I had a great deal to say about this when it happened last year, and regular readers would surely expect me to follow up with my special…
Disproving Workers Comp Fraud by Dying
Fraud is something that is discussed a great deal in our industry. Indeed, it is a matter of great concern, and at times is not pursued as aggressively as we might wish. Still, we occasionally come across a story that should serve as a lesson to us all; that allegations of fraud are simply that,…
Oh Boise, Was I Wrong About Entitlement Numbers
Last week I gave a presentation at the Idaho Industrial Commission Annual Workers' Compensation Seminar called “Breaking the Cycle of Entitlement: How Do We Get Better?” In that presentation I discussed the rapidly expanding growth of SSDI, and how workers' comp can reduce the number of people we feed into that particular system. I also,…
When the TA Texts Her T&A
Technology, for all of its advantages, still can present unique challenges in the workplace. Take teaching for instance. There are already so many things to keep track of for an instructor at a university. There are schedules to plan, lectures to give and tests to grade. And when it comes to texting answers for homework…
In Medicine, Does Boise Have It Goin' On?
I was a presenter at the Idaho Industrial Commission’s Annual Workers’ Compensation Seminar in Boise Thursday. While I was very happy to have the opportunity to fly here from Florida and blather on for an hour, just attending the keynote presentation itself would have been worth the trip. The Keynote presenter was Dr. David Pate,…
Falling in Love with TSA
I didn’t think it was possible. But it could be happening. I have had some small enjoyment through the years poking fun at TSA over some of their airport security procedures. And although I have noted recently that they seemed to be getting noticeably friendlier, the basic hernia checking procedure has remained largely the same.…
Verizon and Healthcare.gov – Can You Enroll Me Now?
For those of us who have been critical of the Affordable Care Act and concerned that the government would botch an already flawed concept, the past three weeks have definitely been ones to behold. You would have to have been living under a rock to not know about the massive failure of the new program's…