Public Risk Management

Cyber Security Claims & Preventative Measures Nov 21, 2024

Cyber Security Claims & Preventative Measures

Distracted Driving And Mitigation Techniques Nov 04, 2024

Distracted Driving And Mitigation Techniques

Specialty Drug Trends In Workers Compensation Oct 21, 2024

Specialty Drug Trends In Workers Compensation

2024 NCSAM Week 5 - Cyber Security Hygiene And The Public Sector Oct 21, 2024

2024 NCSAM Week 5 - Cyber Security Hygiene And The Public Sector

2024 NCSAM Week 4 - The Future Of The Cyber Insurance Market Oct 15, 2024

2024 NCSAM Week 4 - The Future Of The Cyber Insurance Market

Mitigating Abuse Risk Exposures Oct 07, 2024

Mitigating Abuse Risk Exposures

NCSAM Week 3: Phishing Schemes And Risk Management Oct 02, 2024

NCSAM Week 3: Phishing Schemes And Risk Management

NCSAM Week 2: National Cyber Security Awareness Month - What Is It Sep 30, 2024

NCSAM Week 2: National Cyber Security Awareness Month - What Is It

Personal Injury and Structured Settlements Sep 25, 2024

Personal Injury and Structured Settlements

NCSAM Week 1: Vulnerability Management and Updating Your Software Sep 24, 2024

NCSAM Week 1: Vulnerability Management and Updating Your Software

The Collaboration Between Regulatory Professionals and Risk Management Sep 11, 2024

The Collaboration Between Regulatory Professionals and Risk Management

Developing an Emergency Operations Plan Aug 27, 2024

Developing an Emergency Operations Plan

Optimizing The Total Cost Of Risk Aug 12, 2024

Optimizing The Total Cost Of Risk

Forming Habits To Increase Personal Productivity And Effectiveness Jul 31, 2024

Forming Habits To Increase Personal Productivity And Effectiveness

PRIMA Leadership Academy Jul 24, 2024

PRIMA Leadership Academy

College Campus Protests From A Risk Management Perspective Jul 15, 2024

College Campus Protests From A Risk Management Perspective

Brady King - 2024 Annual Conference Student Scholar Reflection Jul 09, 2024

Brady King - 2024 Annual Conference Student Scholar Reflection by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Ella Virgin - 2024 Annual Conference Student Scholar Reflection Jul 09, 2024

Ella Virgin - 2024 Annual Conference Student Scholar Reflection by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Bella Seger - Wagasy - 2024 Annual Conference Student Scholar Reflection Jul 09, 2024

Bella Seger - Wagasy - 2024 Annual Conference Student Scholar Reflection by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Retention Of Talent - Dos And Donts Jul 01, 2024

Retention Of Talent - Dos And Donts

Operational Risk Issues Facing Public Entities During Freedom Of Speech Jun 18, 2024

Operational Risk Issues Facing Public Entities During Freedom Of Speech

CARE - A Four Letter Word For Simplifying WC System Complexities May 28, 2024

CARE - A Four Letter Word For Simplifying WC System Complexities

Don't Blow A Gasket! Solutions To Address Employee Mental Well - Being And Mental Health May 14, 2024

Don't Blow A Gasket! Solutions To Address Employee Mental Well - Being And Mental Health

PRIMA Institute 2024 May 02, 2024

PRIMA Institute 2024

Police And Organizational Behavior - How Did We Get Here Apr 22, 2024

Police And Organizational Behavior - How Did We Get Here

What Is At Risk - The Importance Of Accurate Property Values Apr 08, 2024

What Is At Risk - The Importance Of Accurate Property Values

Best Practices For Public Sector Agency Data Breaches Mar 25, 2024

Best Practices For Public Sector Agency Data Breaches

Validating Your SOV - The Importance Of Data Mar 14, 2024

Validating Your SOV - The Importance Of Data

Navigating Law Enforcement Liability Feb 19, 2024

Navigating Law Enforcement Liability

The Dos And Donts Of The RFP Process Feb 05, 2024

The Dos And Donts Of The RFP Process

Improving Transparency And Accountability In Public Safety Jan 22, 2024

Improving Transparency And Accountability In Public Safety

Confessions Of A High Functioning Professional With Chronic Anxiety Jan 08, 2024

Confessions Of A High Functioning Professional With Chronic Anxiety

Reducing Police Claims - Building Bridges Together Dec 14, 2023

Reducing Police Claims - Building Bridges Together

Applying Data - Drive Risk Management Nov 28, 2023

Applying Data - Drive Risk Management

Understanding OSINT - Open - Source Investigations In Risk Management Nov 14, 2023

Understanding OSINT - Open - Source Investigations In Risk Management

Cultivating Psychological Safety To Mitigate Risk Nov 01, 2023

Cultivating Psychological Safety To Mitigate Risk

The COVID - 19 Pandemic - Lessons Learned & Applied Oct 10, 2023

The COVID - 19 Pandemic - Lessons Learned & Applied

NCSAM Week 4- Utilizing Complex Passwords and Key Cyber Security Controls in Public Entities Oct 05, 2023

NCSAM Week 4- Utilizing Complex Passwords and Key Cyber Security Controls in Public Entities

NCSAM Week 3- Cyber Insurability and Risk Management Oct 05, 2023

NCSAM Week 3- Cyber Insurability and Risk Management

NCSAM Week 2 Sep 28, 2023

NCSAM Week 2

Commercialized Autonomous Vehicles - Risks & Insurance Implications Sep 26, 2023

Commercialized Autonomous Vehicles - Risks & Insurance Implications

NCSAM Week 1: Combating Phishing Schemes Sep 15, 2023

NCSAM Week 1: Combating Phishing Schemes

How Public Entity Risk Managers Can Get The Most Out Of Their TPAs Sep 13, 2023

How Public Entity Risk Managers Can Get The Most Out Of Their TPAs

Workforce Absence In The Public Sector Aug 28, 2023

Workforce Absence In The Public Sector

Injury Prevention, Treatment & The Aging Workforce Aug 14, 2023

Injury Prevention, Treatment & The Aging Workforce

Addressing Public Open Record Requests Jul 31, 2023

Addressing Public Open Record Requests

CHELSEA JOHNSON'S 2023 STUDENT SCHOLAR REFLECTION Jul 19, 2023

2023 Student Scholar Reflections

ANDREW BUSCHMAN'S 2023 STUDENT SCHOLAR REFLECTION Jul 19, 2023

2023 Student Scholar Reflections

VINCENT O CONNELL'S 2023 STUDENT SCHOLAR REFLECTION Jul 19, 2023

2023 Student Scholar Reflections

WILLIAM KEGG'S 2023 STUDENT SCHOLAR REFLECTION Jul 19, 2023

2023 Student Scholar Reflections

Next Generation Recruiting In Workers Compensation Jul 12, 2023

Next Generation Recruiting In Workers Compensation

PRIMA Leadership Academy Jun 28, 2023

PRIMA Leadership Academy

Catastrophe Claims - The Crucial Role Of A Claim Prep Expert Jun 27, 2023

Catastrophe Claims: The Crucial Role of a Claim Prep Expert

Capital Projects Planning Jun 07, 2023

Capital Projects Planning

Property Insurance Market - Trends And Challenges May 22, 2023

Property Insurance Market - Trends And Challenges

Prima Institute 23 - Amy Larson May 12, 2023

Prima Institute 23 - Amy Larson

Leading With Love May 11, 2023

Leading With Love

Psychedelics - Panacea Or Pandora’s Box Apr 26, 2023

Psychedelics - Panacea Or Pandora’s Box

Waste - Ing Away - This Is Not Margaritaville Apr 13, 2023

In this week's episode, Lisa Hammond, Risk Control and Business Development Manager at Tokyo Marine HCC, discusses solid waste management. Listen in as Lisa provides a brief history of solid waste management dating back to 3000 BC in Crete and the Roman Empire; about the challenges associated with solid waste management and how we can address them. It is important to reduce waste generation through reuse and recycling, and educating the public on proper waste disposal. There is a lot of opportunity with careers in risk management and a need for more risk managers in entities all across the board. Please reach out with any questions you may have on how to start the process in a career in this field.

OSHA - Best Practices For Public Entities Mar 30, 2023

We welcomed Tim Ware, the risk control specialist at PMA companies, to chat about OSHA best practices for public entities. Tim communicates the importance of OSHA standards in promoting workplace safety and health. He notes that OSHA is not just a punitive organization but also offers training, outreach, education, and assistance to organizations and people. Tim believes that public entities should follow OSHA standards to prevent accidents and avoid negative press. He highlights best practices for workplace safety and how OSHA standards can benefit both management and employees. Tim also emphasizes the need for self-evaluation to identify and control potential workplace hazards, and how OSHA standards can aid in this process. Overall, Tim stresses the critical role that OSHA standards play in ensuring safe and healthful working conditions.

An Epidemic Amid A Pandemic - Opioid Abuse Mar 14, 2023

An Epidemic Amid A Pandemic - Opioid Abuse

Five Ways To Mitigate Health Plan Risks Mar 03, 2023

Five Ways To Mitigate Health Plan Risks

An Alternative Strategy In Law Enforcement Risk Mitigation Feb 22, 2023

Listen in on this week's podcast discussing police departments and risk retention pools around the United States partnering with BolaWrap, a remote restraint device designed to help law enforcement control subjects without causing pain or injury. The BolaWrap is a handheld tool that deploys a cord which wraps around the subject's arms or legs, immobilizing them and allowing officers to approach and apprehend them without the need for force. The Arizona Risk Retention Pool, which provides insurance to municipalities and public entities in the state, is one such entity that has partnered with BolaWrap. The Pool has offered to cover 50% of the cost of the device for its members, recognizing the potential benefits to reducing claims and liability for excessive use of force incidents.

Do We Have To - Why FEMA Should Be Part Of Your Risk Management Feb 09, 2023

Do We Have To - Why FEMA Should Be Part Of Your Risk Management In this Prima podcast, Joe Blasi, Jeb McPherson, and Eddie Mitchell discuss the importance of having FEMA as part of your risk management strategy

First Responders Protect Us - Let's Help Them Heal Jan 26, 2023

First Responders Protect Us - Let's Help Them Heal This week we have Gary Stanley is the Senior VP and Medical Officer at Harvard MedTech. Gary gives his expertise and experience on ways to identify injuries or trauma first responders may be dealing with. The larger events are easy to identify however the smaller or day to day small traumas that add up overtime. A lot of the initial needs of the public during Covid 19 were on the first responders when hospitals and family members were unable to meet the needs of people. Identification may be tricky when treating first responders as a lot of people don’t feel comfortable self reporting. Supervisors, organizational hierarchy that has the detail or attention to ask their responders ‘How are you feeling today or how is the stress of this job weighing on you.’ Having a holistic perspective implemented or a wellness element added into the organization. There are also new solutions that bring help to the individual’s home via virtual check ins and consistency on a regular basis to ensure the first responder has access and can comfortable share with a counselor or professional on how they are doing.

Application of the Texas Enterprise Risk Management Guidelines Jan 10, 2023

Application of the Texas Enterprise Risk Management Guidelines with Lisette Osborne Networking at PRIMA’s conference Lisette was introduced to Texas’s ‘SORM’ website https://www.sorm.state.tx.us/ where she was able to find the state’s guidelines on risk management. The website has sections and guidelines broken down into a variety of content which may be helpful if you are new to the risk management world and/or helpful if you are seasoned validating how your program functions or could run. Key components of designing a program - What is the benefit of the agency? - What is the value added? - Why does this risk management exist? - How will it function? - Importance of evaluating the program, what does the success look like and how often - Who do you need to convince or sell the program to? - How to structure the way your risk management program will apply in your own agency and entity.

Ethical Responses to Allegations of Sexual Misconduct: Are You Prepared? Dec 23, 2022

Kathleen McChesney, CEO, Kinsale Consulting, details the responsibilities that school organizations and youth-serving organizations need to take in order to prevent sexual misconduct. Recent studies show that 4% of children are abused in school settings around the country. The steps in prevention include: Having a good plan, Establishing policies based on research of successful programsFollowing your state legislation, andTailoring the plan for your organization’s specific geography, accessibility, and demographicsEstablish a program manager that is responsible for implementing and reviewing the prevention plan. Additionally, Kathleen shares the steps an organization should do if they receive an allegation, the importance of transparency of abuse allegations, accountability and emerging issues.

Cyber Challenges In K - 12 Public Schools with Brett Carruthers Dec 05, 2022

Cyber Challenges In K - 12 Public Schools with Brett Carruthers

Henry Svendblad - Streamline Your Risk Management Reporting Technology Nov 17, 2022

Henry Svendblad, Chief Technology Officer at Company Nurse, explains why risk management technology is more important than ever. By investing in the right digital technology it ensures processes are simple to manage and effective. He describes digital empathy and its relational to risk technology solutions. Digital empathy creates an enhanced user experience as well as delivering timely and secure data to the risk manager. He provides six process that can be streamlined by Risk Management technology: Digital self reporting systems. Claim intake Hazard reporting User Alerts that warn teams of potential accidents that fall under their jurisdiction Anonymous Reporting Mitigate the risk of substance misuse He also answers, how organizations evaluate the tools that are most important for their workplace, and then implement these tools.

How Digital Health Is Transforming Employee Wellness And Return - To - Work Nov 02, 2022

The Right Care At The Right Time - How Digital Health Is Transforming Employee Wellness And Return - To - Work

Understanding Copyright Risk In Education Oct 19, 2022

Thom Rickert - Understanding Copyright Risk In Education

Cyber Insurance and Mitigating Risks Oct 11, 2022

Cyber Insurance and Mitigating Risks

The Cyber Security Landscape: 2021 and Beyond Oct 11, 2022

The Cyber Security Landscape: 2021 and Beyond

Opportunities And Benefits Of Telehealth - Digital Health Oct 05, 2022

David Lupinsky ,Sr. Vice President of Products at CorVel, shares the Opportunities and Benefits of Telehealth/Digital Health. The primary benefit is that healthcare is being brought to patients, instead of patients having to go to healthcare. It also has caused savings for employers, increased productivity at the workplace, better and more efficient care for the individual and subsequently leading to reduced total medical costs. Patients and Providers have shown overall positive feedback as it’s convenient, evaluations mirror examinations they’re used too and it offers a more hybrid schedule for providers. He also shares how telehealth is incorporating translation and transcription to expand and improve care for patients, as well as maximizes care in between visits that encourage patient compliance and change patient behavior.

Cyber Security Claims & Preventative Strategies Oct 05, 2022

Jason McMahon, Risk Manager for Midwest Public Risk, offers insights and preventive strategies for Cyber Incidents. He starts off by answering why we still see so many cyber incidents; explaining that oftentimes it doesn’t become a priority for entities until there’s been an issue. He shares tips that can help in determining if an email is phishing or not and what he’s seen from the claim side that public entities may not be aware of. He emphasizes the importance of educating your staff and having a protocol is necessary as no software or hardware can fully prevent certain aspects of human nature.

Cyber Security: Identifying & Responding to Current & Future Threats Sep 27, 2022

Thomas Bullock, Director of Education and Training at Virginia Risk Sharing Association (VRSA), teaches how to identify and respond to current and future cyber security threats. Cyber Security has transitioned from protecting data to every area that we use the internet, from social media and email to GPS and medical records. Thomas explains how cyber attacks stem from organizational problems, not technical ones and therefore requires all employees to understand and participate in mitigating risks. He explains "Defense in Depth;" a multi-layered approach to cyber security that may appear redundant but addresses many different attack vectors and closes the gaps that occur between singular layers of security such as: firewalls, malware, scanners, and integrity auditing solutions. He describes why a cyber security incident response plan is necessary, who you should include in your response team, who you need to notify and the four phases to the most effective response plans: 1. preparation 2. detection and analysis 3. containment, eradication and recovery. 4. post-incident activity.

Using Social Media Effectively For Growth And Transparency Sep 20, 2022

Brian Mahy, AVP, Marketing & Business Development for Trident Public Risk Solutions, instructs how to expand a social media following. When considering communication practices he compares the usefulness of social media to a town square. It's a place for important information where people will already be congregating. In order to grow an audience, it's important to set specific goals and milestones. Consider the timeline, what information will you be featuring, how is it useful to your community, and then it's adjusting your goals over time. He advises how to deal with community engagement, developing a policy, how public figures can separate their public and personal presence. He also encourages social media advertising, but only after having established policies, safe account measures, your budget and ROI goals.

Diane Becker - Communicating With A Frog Sep 06, 2022

Diane Becker, explains what it means to communicate with a frog. It encompasses the unique and effective techniques for communication with members. She explains why starting with the audience is key - asking who they are, and what their needs are. Secondly, it’s having a specific goal. She suggests the first goal to be building trust with the audience. That will lead to better interactions and understanding of how to achieve your goal in helping them understand. Once that is established the ability to communicate what you would like the audience to know and implementing techniques becomes most effective. She shares instances on how they’ve handled statewide crises, such as flooding, and addressing recurring claims, such as trips and falls.

You Know What You’re Paying for Healthcare, But You Don’t Know What You’re Getting Aug 24, 2022

Scott Roloff, President or IntergerHealth Technologies, explains how his work in quantifying the outcome of healthcare costs can drive down the costs and improve the quality of care. He shares the different quality measures that Health Providers use, and how employers can better rank their doctors. He discusses the different ways they measure ROI and the key analytics for finding their Claims per Day figure. For employers, it's looking at how much did it cost and how long did it take for the employee to get better, along with risk adjustments, transparent analytics, and rank scoring systems.

Safeguarding Our Children - Parks And Recreational Area Risk Control Practices Aug 09, 2022

John Roy, Sr. Risk Control Field Representative, Tokio Marine HCC, discusses the practices to safeguarding parks and recreational areas for children. He explains how liability trends are changing from the past - an increase of bike paths and walking trails have their own liability issues. Also how water features can pose a threat at chemical access points and the importance of having a checklist of what to look out for with the final walk through with the contractor. He shares his two most common recommendations and why they are important. You’ll also hear examples of past issues and what to include in an inspection process, the benefits of having or hiring a certified park inspector, and best practices for hiring volunteers.

2022 Annual Conference - Chase Burton Jul 25, 2022

2022 Annual Conference - Chase Burton

Annual Conference Reflection - Kaylee Boggan Jul 25, 2022

Annual Conference Reflection - Kaylee Boggan

AC 22 reflection with William Huang Jul 25, 2022

This week's podcast episode we have William Huang who is an undergraduate student studying risk management and insurance at St. John's University share his experience at Prima's 2022 annual conference. Listen in on William's greatest takeaways included being able to connect with the diversity of attendees, gaining better understanding on how risk management works on a domestic and international level.

Cyber Risk And Youth Protection Jul 14, 2022

Joaquina Scott Kankam, Director and Senior Consultant, School of Solutions, discusses how to better protect youth and cyber security. The first step is to implement a clear policy, she explains what it should include and how to ensure that it’s effective with and being adhered to. She also provides the effect of the pandemic on Cyber Risk, what to do with social platforms managed by multiple people, employee communication expectations and the one thing that she would require for Youth Serving Organizations.

COVID - 19 Engineering And Facility Controls Jun 29, 2022

Joseph Whitlock, Senior Advisor, Health, Safety, and Industrial Hygiene, EFI Global, explains COVID-19 Engineering and Facility Controls. He saw organizations use a variety of tactics to reduce COVID-19, some of which worked while others didn’t. He explains why local HEPA filtration units worked best, especially for facilities that weren’t capable of upgrading their HVAC systems, as well as the significance in optimizing building ventilation for reducing COVID-19. He offers several examples of the best ways to carry health and hygienic practices forward, and how one family dental practice increased their business by doing so.

Applying Health And Safety Trends To Your Organization Jun 01, 2022

Applying Health And Safety Trends To Your Organization

PRIMA Institute 2022 With Amy Larson May 31, 2022

PRIMA Institute 2022 With Amy Larson by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Managing Environmental Legal Risk - What To Know May 19, 2022

Sarah Lintecum, Counsel at Lathrop GPM LLP, provides what Risk Managers should know about Environmental Risks. She shares three types of environmental risks that organizations should consider in terms of insurance needs: climate change, Potential liability caused by emerging contaminants, such as PFAS, and air pollution and indoor air quality. She explains how environmental liability is expensive and claims become very complex. Specifically with PFAS, risk management professionals and entities should monitor new regulations with an increase in legal, regulatory and claims. Specific circumstances to consider PFAS include when purchasing new property, the potential exposure to liability if you work within water utilities or wastewater treatment plants. Sarah shares the common coverage issues related to PFAS, the two sources of coverage that can apply and what to expect this year for PFAS is an increase in claims, litigation, and requests for information during the underwriting process, along with best practices and tips for procuring coverage.

Leveraging Enterprise Risk Management As A Crisis Response Tool - A COVID Story May 05, 2022

Christine Packard, the Director of Enterprise Risk Management at the University of Massachusetts talks about Leveraging Enterprise Risk Management as a Crisis Response Tool, applied to the specific instance of COVID 19. With two decades of experience in crisis response prior to working at the University of Massachusetts, she has in-depth expertise on managing crisis. Christine shares how the foundation of effective crisis response is built upon the collaboration upon existing networks of different disciplines. She details how the structure supports effective crisis response through consistent meetings of stakeholders; which builds partnership and awareness of each other's respective positions, as well as improved health and safety measures. enrollment, staffing, and finance. An ongoing sharing of information allows comprehensive mitigation strategies and keeps the board of trustees informed. Christine shares how they Operationalized ERM for crisis response, using COVID 19 as an example. She explains how Leadership is a fundamental component and the importance for communication and in the case of COVID 19 it meant providing daily updates to provide situational awareness. Lastly, she informs how the crisis strengthened the ERM Program and brought about updated risk assessment and mitigation tools, as well as more developed relationships and network.

Minimizing Pharmacy Plan Costs with Lisa Stamm Apr 23, 2022

Minimizing Pharmacy Plan Costs with Lisa Stamm Lisa Stamm, VP of Consulting Services at Sherril Morgan discusses minimizing pharmacy plan costs. She explains how the pharmaceutical industry is one of the most complex and expensive costs for companies that sponsor health plans, specifically determining how much is being paid toward pharmacy benefit management. Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) main role is to facilitate transactions when a member fills their prescriptions at a pharmacy. There are four traditional ways of how a PBM is compensated. The first is spread, which is adding a cost to every prescription they process; with this cost being built into the pricing makes it difficult to quantify for the employer. The second is Rebate Retention, this is retaining all the rebates that plans get when members use their prescription drugs, instead of hitting the employer's plan. The third way is by obtaining the part of the co-pay that was higher than the cost of the prescription, and the fourth is in a traditional structure by being a part of the mail order process. Each time someone uses mail order the PBM is obtaining revenue from the transaction. She shares the problems of a traditional model and the benefits of Pass Through as an alternative, which is when a PBM is given a fixed and controlled administrative fee. She also explains how focused an employer should be on pharmacy rebates, mail-order and the co-pay structure’s best strategy to prescription drugs management

Where Are They Now - Carl Amritt Apr 18, 2022

Carl Amritt, Analyst for Public Safety and Homeland Security, shares best practices for new risk managers, his takeaways from the Annual Prima Conference, the two PRIMA resources that greatly benefit his work and how enterprise risk management is embedded in different areas such as financial, situational, and environmental. Carl’s advice for new risk managers is to create a risk awareness culture within your organization and several options on how to do so. He also shares the experience of a presentation from PRIMA’s annual conference having significant relevance to his upbringing and his line of work.

Where Are They Now - Nicholas Esty Apr 11, 2022

Nicholas Esty is a Professional Liability Account Executive at Risk Placement Services (RPS). The Prima Annual Conference Scholarship recipient in 2017, he shares the sessions that stood out to him, some of the other activities that were offered and how it was an overall educational and fun experience that also led to great networking opportunities. He describes how he got onto the Risk Management Insurance track in college, and what drew him to the industry as he started to become more and more connected. He shares how the people he met were a significant factor in his decision making as well as upward mobility and openings for younger professionals within the industry.

Strategic Business Partnerships – Risks, Rewards & Results Apr 07, 2022

Dalene Bartholomew, Vice President of VRC Investigations talks about the risks, rewards and getting positive results of strategic business partnerships. She explains how organizations utilize outsourcing of service providers to reach their goals. Specifically for the insurance industry, the team is built around their staff so outsourcing service providers builds value, and by leveraging its advantages and flexibility becomes vital for strategy. By outsourcing a variety of providers it allows insurance to focus on their competencies. Some examples of service providers frequently utilized are third party administrators, medical bill review services, defense council, investigation agencies, copy services, MSA arrangements, and continuing education. Dalene breaks down the difference between vendors and business partnerships, the positives and negatives of multi-partner models and preferred vendor relationships, the five points why preferred vendor relationships are on the rise as well as the solution to balance out the pros and cons is by creating a core of providers but keeping the process open. She provides her top three tips for an organization to get create mutually beneficial out relationships: Clarity around goals, mutual commitment Communication that’s frequent, transparent and collaborative Selecting the right provider and the best long term

Where Are They Now - Debolina McClellan Apr 04, 2022

Debolina McClellan was awarded the Prima scholarship in 2014. You'll hear her experience attending the conference, being mentored and its benefits as well as insight, networking opportunities and how it influenced her career journey. Currently at Galaxy Digital - which specializes in cryptocurrency investment. Debolina recounts her experience transitioning from traditional finance into cryptocurrency, shares how her opinions have changed, thoughts of Prima's potential in getting involved within the crypto currency field and how she's been able to contribute to the field of risk management.

The Role Of Policymakers In Encouraging SMB Growth Mar 22, 2022

The Role of Policymakers in Encouraging SMB Growth. The speaker is Nilesh Mehta Nilesh Mehta, Founder/CEO of Independent Bridge Consulting, talks about the non-partisan issue of monopolies, such as inflation, less innovation as well as a widening wealth gap. He shares the numerous opportunities to create wealth if the government would provide additional support for black, women and veteran-owned businesses. Looking ahead at the next twenty years, Nilesh describes the benefits of strengthening communities at the grassroots level as well as the detrimental effects if small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) continue to remain vulnerable and put under stress. SMB makeup 97%, therefore their stress is shared directly with their local communities’ tax base and infrastructure. Nilesh provides a few examples of how the government can help such as incentivizing businesses to bolster manufacturing.

Artificial Intelligence And Modern Claims Handling with Karl Miller Mar 07, 2022

Artificial Intelligence And Modern Claims Handling with Karl Miller Karl Miller, AVP, Sales and Compliance at American Computer Estimating, explains how Artificial Intelligence (AI) has drastically impacted handling Claims. He shares the three models of AI: Predictive, Proactive and Problem Solving - and the technology and examples on how they’ve created a new process. He also shares how AI improves the overall claims experience for the claimant and claims professionals. Specifically, targeting the number one complaint of claimants and providing better means of prompt resolutions, data management and accuracy. While the implementation of AI has many benefits, there’s always a risk when introducing new technologies. Karl shares the ways to mitigate the increased risks and fraud.

Anatomy Of A Lawsuit Feb 21, 2022

Anatomy Of A Lawsuit Scott Roloff is the President of Integer Health Technologies. Starting as a CPA then a Lawyer, first as a tax lawyer before switching to corporate law. At Integer Health Technologies, a healthcare analytics company, their primary focus is to measure the return on healthcare costs, quantifying healthcare outcomes. He explains the ins and outs of lawsuits and how in some fashion lawsuits will touch everyone’s life; whether summoned as a juror, giving a testimony, or involved in a lawsuit themselves. He describes how a lawsuit begins with a complaint, and the best means of avoiding one as the best lawsuits are the ones that don’t happen due to their costs and complexities. In the circumstances it cannot be resolved, Scott provides step by step a lawsuit’s process, how to go about selecting the best lawyer, the different types of cases and the phases of a trial. He also defines the differences between Attorney Client Privilege and Confidentiality Obligation, as well as gives in-depth information about the process of jury summoning.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome - Pitfalls Of Diagnosis And Treatment Feb 08, 2022

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome - Pitfalls Of Diagnosis And Treatment with Fernando Branco.

Methods For Agencies To Mitigate Media Inquiry Jan 27, 2022

Methods For Agencies To Mitigate Media Inquiry Richard Spiers, a Consultant at Spiers Consulting LLC, shares the methods for Agencies to mitigate media inquiries. He explains which events capture the media's attention such as Police cases, city employee accusations and the specific characteristics of a community that also hold a significant factor. He offers examples of what type of videos grab the highest attention, how the media selects who to contact, and the best tactics in responding even in the instances that all information is not available yet. He also informs how handling the media can be improved up through training in internal communications, public discussion and how to build better relationships with the media before an incident occurs.

Insurance Requirements In Contracts - Tips For Effectively Transferring Risks Jan 11, 2022

Insurance Requirements In Contracts - Tips For Effectively Transferring Risks James Curbeam, Director of Risk Management at Las Vegas Valley Water District, and CourtneyRamirez, First Vice President of Property & Casualty at Alliant Insurance Services, share tips for effectively transferring risk for Insurance Requirements in Contracts. They start by addressing the longstanding question of How much insurance is enough? The benefits to standardizing policies and procedures, and how to further streamline language and reviewing requirements. They discuss how the changes from the overall market, and increased litigation costs have impacted coverage requirements and limits, emerging trends - such as cybersecurity, how to manage Cyber Risk in contracts and ISO changes that have affected coverage application.

Addressing The Biggest Challenges In Youth Protection Risk Management Dec 13, 2021

In this episode, Joaquina Scott Kankam, Director and Senior Consultant at School of Solutions, addresses what Risk Management Professionals misunderstand about Youth Protection and the subsequent issues that occur because of it. The biggest challenge is that the requirements of the current federal law are not fully comprehensive, and leads to insufficient procedures and policies. Her experience as an educator and specialization on creating youth programs provided first hand experiences of negligence and the need for better protection for youth in organizations. She also shares the importance for better awareness, enhancing state laws and growing data collection.

Injury Prevention Programs And Early Symptom Intervention Nov 24, 2021

Steven Clark, is WorkStrategies’ National Director at Select Medical. He explains Injury Prevention Programs and Early Symptom Intervention. He discusses the primary drivers and strategies that employers should be looking at in order to prevent or reduce incidents in the workplace: Functional Employment Testing, Educational Programs, Ergonomics, and Early Symptom Intervention. He provides data of the greatest injury types, their costs, and how to decrease them. He also shares the highest risk factors: repetitive motion, forceful exertions, environmental, the combination of factors, personal, and pre-existing conditions. He explains how to identify the factors, break them down in order to associate them with tasks, then leading to a solution.

The Neuroscience Of Mentor - Mentee Relationships Nov 09, 2021

The Neuroscience Of Mentor - Mentee Relationships Brent Holman, the workers’ compensation insurance program coordinator for the University of Texas System, discusses the Neuroscience of Mentor/Mentee Relationships. The benefits of mentorship date back to ancient history, such as passing on the knowledge of how to create fire. Brent Holman explains the art of mentoring from personal experience as a mentee and mentor. He provides insights into the biggest challenges, risks of mentoring but emphasizes the value of this relationship out weighing the risk as studies show supporting others reduces stress levels, increases a sense of autonomy, social connection and happiness. He shares modern day situations and the brain’s process when experiencing the collaborative and social factors from mentorship along with the many skills and tips he’s learned from being a mentee and mentor.

How To Educate Employees On Workers Compensation Without Giving The Store Away Oct 26, 2021

How To Educate Employees On Workers Compensation Without Giving The Store Away

Confidence, Culture And Conversations - Inspired Risk Leadership Oct 15, 2021

Confidence, Culture And Conversations - Inspired Risk Leadership This week we’re joined by Melanie Herman; a prolific author, whos has written more than a dozen comprehensive books and resource guides and delivered countless seminars and key note presentations. She explains why risk leadership is important with providing guidance through uncertainty, and being able to charter the multi-finality of problem resolutions. She also discusses common misconceptions about risk management’s role, how the pandemic has changed companies’ perceptions and implementation of risk management positions as well as the five attributes necessary for a great risk management leader.

Cybersecurity First with Sarah Creighton Oct 15, 2021

Cybersecurity First with Sarah Creighton

Emerging Trends In Cyber Risk Management - Ransomware Oct 07, 2021

Emerging Trends In Cyber Risk Management - Ransomware

Avoiding The Wheel Of Misfortune: Using Advanced Analytics To Achieve Better Claim Outcomes Sep 29, 2021

Avoiding The Wheel Of Misfortune: Using Advanced Analytics To Achieve Better Claim Outcomes

How Risk Managers Can Shape A Connected Future Sep 29, 2021

How Risk Managers Can Shape A Connected Future

Best Practices to Avoid a Cyber Attack Sep 29, 2021

Best Practices to Avoid a Cyber Attack

Securing Devices at Home and Work Sep 29, 2021

Securing Devices at Home and Work

Cyber Awareness Month - If You Connect It, Protect It Sep 29, 2021

Cyber Awareness Month 2020 Episode 1 - If You Connect It, Protect It

The Future of Connected Devices Sep 29, 2021

The Future of Connected Devices

Securing Internet - Connected Devices in Healthcare Sep 29, 2021

Securing Internet - Connected Devices in Healthcare

Cyber Insurance Facts For Public Entities Sep 29, 2021

Ann O’Leary, Assistant Vice President of Cyber Insurance at Aon, discusses the Cyber Risks that Public Entities face, the types of Cyber Insurance that is available in the marketplace and how Sovereign Immunity changes what coverage Public Entities have. The greatest risks for Public Entities are the amount of data, type of data: personally identifiable information, health records, the length of time records have to be maintained, activism and reliance on third party vendors. The risks lead to several challenges of purchasing cyber insurance. Public Entities’ length of record retention increases, limited resources for IT and lack of allocation of funds especially as technology continues to evolve requires heavier reliance on third parties. Additionally, activism is unique to Public Entities, as well as their application process can be quite cumbersome. Ann also shares the three aspects carriers are looking for; specifically with Public Entities: Control The amount of data and the type of information. Their application process, including IT securities protocols

Fight The Phish Sep 27, 2021

Fight The Phish with Jennifer Cook

Be Cyber Smart Sep 24, 2021

Cyber Security Month week one with Souwei Ford.

Environmental, Social And Governance In Risk Management With Chris Mandel Sep 20, 2021

Chris Mandel, President and Managing Consultant of Excellence in Risk Management LLC, explains Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in Risk Management. Chris defines ESG and how it’s grown from sustainable development and now evolved to initiatives driving corporations and spheres of societies’ behaviors. Additionally, he discusses why ESG matters for risk professionals, why it’s invaluable they are included in the conversation and how it’s a component in practicing a comprehensive risk strategy. Chris also shares the four reasons ESG is related or should be related to Enterprise Risk Management. He sees the future of ESG heading into the public sector and becoming a priority for all companies it’s only a question of timing.

Factors To Help You Decide When Facing A Public Entity Lawsuit Sep 02, 2021

Richard Spiers is a claims consultant who’s developed and presented training programs for a variety of industry clients for 25 years. In this episode he shares the main factors in what type of media captures the greatest attention, specifically in cases around police shootings. Race, demographics of the community, how many shots fired, the timeliness in releasing video footage as well as prior records all have an important role with influencing community and public opinion of the defendant and plaintiff. Richard also shares many stories through his years of experience illustrating the severity of the media's influence on a case and the lawsuits’ outcome.

Prioritizing And Managing Emerging Risks Aug 17, 2021

Chris Mandel explains the nature of emerging risks and their six components. High level of uncertainty Lack of consensus Relevance Difficult to communicate Deciding ownership of the emerging risk Often emerge in a systemic business practice and implicate a lot of the organizations’ processes He also shares three reasons, why they’re a high priority to senior management, and the key elements of best management practices. Furthermore, he explains how Black Swans, Gray Rhinos and White Elephants are all factors to be aware of - especially Black Swans as they’re highly improbable and have a significant impact such as the COVID-19 pandemic

Brian Hebert’s 2021 Annual Conference Reflection Aug 04, 2021

Brian Hebert’s 2021 Annual Conference Reflection

The Importance Of Mentorship In Risk Management Jul 22, 2021

Melissa Steger, Associate Director of Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment Insurance, and Brianna Gilmore, a graduate student in the masters program of public administration share the importance of mentorship in Risk Management. Melissa finds mentoring a gratifying experience that also sustains and enhances the risk management sector. She shares how valuable others’ guidance was in moments of uncertainty. Melissa further explains the distinction of mentoring vs. managing colleagues as well as how mentorships varying according to the mentee’s needs and current level within their program. Brianna provides the benefits of being a mentee, why she decided to be mentored by Melissa, and what she was seeking t0 gain from the experience.

PRIMA Institute 2021 With Kurt Braatz And Amy Larson Jul 21, 2021

PRIMA community participants, Amy Larson and Kurtz Braatz, explain why PRIMA Institute is a one of a kind learning opportunity for risk management professionals at every level. PRIMA Institute 2021 is a five day education program that brings top notch professionals together and creates opportunities for networking, sharing ideas, gaining industry expertise and having support throughout the year through new contacts. Every Risk Manager professional can benefit from the uniqueness of this opportunity. This year, four specific series will be held as well as a hot topics session. Over the week, learning will include learning about essentials to intermediate and advanced curriculum, also discussing emerging topics

Workers’ Compensation In 2030 - Chris Mandel Jun 30, 2021

Chris Mandel, Founder, President and Managing Consultant for Excellence in Risk Management, LLC, discusses how workers’ compensation will look in ten years, through the lens of Dr. Richard Victor’s recently published book, “Scenarios for the 2030s: Threats and Opportunities for Workers' Compensation Systems”. There are four main forces causing the change: demographic forces, such as age of workforce - baby boomers reaching retirement, case shifting, social security and disability situation and the changed environment of workers compensation and reform. He highlights Dr. Victor’s most significant conclusions and data: work compensation costs could triple without a material change in benefits, state based systems being out of balance, a challenge within regulatory and legislative reform, increasing in claim frequency, and lengthening of disability by 21% as well as an 8.5% increase in the average payment. Additionally, Chris elaborates on four aspects risk managers and practitioners can implement with this information, how to address loss prevention and building organizational resilience for systemic issues.

Creating A Cyber Systems Incident Response Team Jun 15, 2021

Margaret Pedona, the Risk Manager for Coconino County, Arizona discusses how to create a cyber systems incident response team. She explains how cyber crimes have become the most imminent and costly risks that public entity operations face and why a response team is essential for risk management and will save an organization precious time and efficiency to a cyber event. Going into further detail on who should be invited to serve on an organization's team, best practices, assigning roles and responsibilities to each member, preparing the process to a cyber incident, and creating a checklist that is specific for an organization.

Workers' Compensation Networks with Catherine Benavidez May 25, 2021

Workers' Compensation Networks with Catherine Benavidez This week we’re joined by Catherine Benavidez, President/CEO at Injury Management Organization. Networks did not exist in Texas, prior to 2005. She shares how their healthcare network was approved in 2006, activated in 2009 and how they’ve significantly decreased medical cost averages as well as days of work lost. Organically growing their network has proven to be significantly beneficial. Having productive relationships with providers is key; they’re able to manage care from the beginning of a case to the end of the case with collaborative efforts of utilization review, medical bill review, ancillary peer review, and field and telephonic case management. Catherine explains in significant detail the advantages of their network, how they compare to others in Texas and the most important features of a health care network.

ERM Implementation In Response To COVID - 19 May 12, 2021

ERM Implementation In Response To COVID - 19 This week we have Sean Catanese explaining Enterprise Risk Management in response to COVID-19. Sean is the ERM Services Program Manager in King County, Washington. His office handles: tort claims filed against the County, recovering matters of responsible third parties, complex public records, requests, insurance and contracts. Prior to the pandemic, they handled around 1800 new tort claims each year - the pandemic has drastically decreased the number of claims by 25%. Sean shares the three main factors to their Enterprise Risk Management Program - leadership, resources, and effective storytelling - elaborating on their impact and how they’ve implemented this system in responding to the pandemic. He offers very pragmatic and clear examples of their ERM strategy and framework. It’s a insightful episode of decision-making, and risk management amidst the pandemic; “because good risk management comes down to good decision-making”

Mental Health Of School Personnel Amidst A Pandemic May 12, 2021

Mental Health of School Personnel Amidst a Pandemic/COVID-19 Cherri Lindquist, Clinical Nurse Manager at Company Nurse and Paula Allen, Global Leader, Research and Total Wellbeing and SVP at Morneau Shepell, describe the unique experience of School Personnel and how the repercussions of the pandemic have impacted their professional and personal lives. School Personnel face a multi-faceted situation - each department faces a different experience in keeping students and colleagues safe while upholding new protocols. For employees starting out in their career, they were lacking in-person support, help and learning while working in a team when working from home. Top concerns for more experienced employees, being prone to higher risk or living with high risk individuals and having to learn very foreign technology and programs. In addition to their personal stressors, the age group of students they work, brings unique challenges specific to their developmental needs. Shere and Paula explain the many reasons why Employee Assistant Programs are invaluable for School Personnel and how to implement them successfully and effective support for School Personnel during the crisis of COVID-19.

Workers’ Compensation Technology Advancements Apr 30, 2021

Workers’ Compensation Technology Advancements This week we’re joined by William Zachry, he explains how technological advancements are impacting workers’ compensation and risk management. Appointed as a senior fellow of the Sedgwick Institute in 2017, he’s widely known throughout the risk management industry for his achievements within workers’ compensation reform. Additionally, William serves on the board of the state compensation insurance fund - California’s largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance. The different areas that he covers are: Artificial Intelligence CRISPR; a new technology for splicing genes Autonomous Vehicles, and Medical Technology New Software and Applications Each of these medical and technological advancements hold significant promise in the next ten to fifteen years. Already bringing significant benefits and improvements upon workers compensation and risk management, such as reducing litigation costs, and identifying employers that need additional education or movement feedback to minimize injury. Along with their positive advancements, they also present sizable questions and problems such as misuse, the boundaries of ethics, and the use of data collection and privacy.

Lessons Learned For K - 12 Education Apr 14, 2021

This week we’re joined by Kaylee Sorenson; to share the lessons learned from COVID-19 on K-12 Education. Kaylee is an Emergency Management Consultant at Ashton Tiffany LLC. This discussion includes the initial challenges of the pandemic; such as transitioning learning to online, supply chain strain, community partnerships and pressure; the shift of priorities after handling the initial obstacles and the communication, preparation and the role that the school districts within the community. School districts became a central location of information, and communication for the community. Website Traffic significantly increased, new partnerships for PPE and additional essential supplies were created and Sufficient Emergency operations plans and Continuity of Operations Plans were established.

Navigating The Generational Gap with Karen Caterino And Mark Pew Mar 31, 2021

This week we have Karen Caterino, Public Entity Education Center of Excellence Leader-West, for Willis Towers Watson and Mark Pew, SVP of Product Development and Marketing for Preferred Medical, explaining how to navigate the professional generation gap. Karen and Mark share the cause for the talent gap, and the risks and information loss as a product of baby boomers’ retirement. They also provide several effective solutions through mentoring and The Transitions Movement. They share many benefits of being a mentor and/or mentee and how to create a successful relationship that garners professional and personal growth.

Diversity, Equity And Inclusion - Practices In The Workplace Mar 24, 2021

This week our speaker, James Curbeam, CPCU, ARM, AIC, is the director of risk management for the Las Vegas Valley Water District. He holds a B.S. in finance from Creighton University and an executive MBA from the University of Nebraska Omaha. James shares how to make greater progress as a society and individually for diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Witnessing firsthand the lack of diversity on panels, he illustrates that progress cannot be made; rather having discussions that tackle solutions require uncomfortable and honest conversations between company leaders and disenfranchised individuals. Addressing minority advancement within the workplace, specifically in the insurance industry he shares the two key components are networking and opportunity. In order for minorities to advance they need to be in a position to network in order to build key relationships and be considered for opportunities. The second factor, opportunities are most readily available in attending conferences, which are typically available to senior level positions within companies. This obstructs junior level employees, more commonly filled by minority individuals, from advancing within the industry. He also shares the foundational policies to be implemented in the workplace, and elaborates on what needs to happen to create lasting change.

Ergonomics And Working From Home with Lisa Orr Mar 19, 2021

Ergonomics And Working From Home with Lisa Orr For this week’s episode, Lisa Orr, certified professional ergonomist and Human Factors Professional at Sedgwick CMS, provides a wide range of solutions for working from home. She explains specific tactics in achieving efficiency within this new normal, such as: Dedicating a specific space What to do with limited space and funds Minimizing distractions Developing routines The ideal ergonomic setup How to coordinate with children and their schedule Supporting from a managerial role Lisa brings to light some of the office tendencies that have been lost and what aspects are valuable to incorporate into your schedule.

The True Cost Of Pharmacy Feb 24, 2021

This week we’re joined by Mark Morgan, President of Sherrill Morgan. He explains in-detail Pharmacy Costs - why they cost what they do and how Pharmacy Programs work today. There is a space between the Average Wholesale Price (AWP) and the Maximum Allowable Cost. This gap allows for arbitrary costs to be determined by a Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM). Mark shares how to address or avert the PBM situation. He also provides insight into four ways to save costs Acquisition Cost Indexing, Own Use Acquisition, Rebates, and 340B

Social Inflation - Emerging Tactics And Best Practices For Public Agency Liability Feb 10, 2021

For this week’s episode, Kristen Smolek and Will Portello discuss social inflation, emerging tactics and best practices for public agency liability. Kristen is the Vice President of Pooling at Sedgwick and Will is the director of litigation claims at Sedgwick. They share the six main factors that contribute to social inflation, and further expand on the impact of public distrust and negative public sentiment and the generational influence of Millennial jurors. The areas of public entity practice that pose the greatest risk. The best tactics in mitigating an inflamed jury. How to be proactive in taking risk control measures. As a public entity, Kristen and Will emphasize the best means of protection is creating and reinforcing a culture of safety, locating the cause of an issue, sharing data from claims, and providing hands on training in order to curb the social inflation impact.

The Impact Of COVID - 19 On Litigation And Risk Management Jan 28, 2021

Sy Everett and the title is The Impact of COVID-19 on Litigation and Risk Management. This week we have Sy Everett, III, a Founding Partner of Everett Doery, LLP, discussing the impact of COVID-19 on litigation and risk management. Sy shares the successes of adaptability, effective communication although remote and how technological advancements have aided in replacing former risk management strategies. Two areas that have suffered from COVID-19’s remote meetings are Mediation and Jury Trials. In-person mediation is much more effective to help litigators become accustomed to an unfamiliar process, as well as bridging the gap and conveying the value of compromise as all parties’ best interest. While some Jury Trials have reconvened in-person, with safety precautions of social distancing and face coverings, there comes great difficulty with keeping remote jurors accountable. Without being in a courtroom, jurors face many distractions and risk being impartial in observing the case. Sy shares the challenges of COVID-19 has also brought positive long standing impact for Risk Management and Litigation, such as accessibility, diminished overhead costs, minimized barriers for entry into the workforce and education, increased collaboration and the destigmatization of working remotely means less productivity.

New Face Of Case Management In Workers’ Compensation Jan 06, 2021

Josephine Copeland, VP of Managed Care Services at PMA Companies, describes how Case Management has changed its model and how it impacts public entities, as well as how to ensure your taking full advantage of the new resources available. The new face of case management incorporates technology to provide a holistic approach to the person; subsequently encouraging more proactive, resolution driven claims process and proving to be more effective for all parties. In this episode you’ll learn: why case management plays such a pivotal role in workers' compensation claims, how technology enables earliest intervention, and the risks of delayed or interrupted claims, how the new model impact public entities, and the examples of early intervention benefits. Josephine even expands how to glean pertinent information about the new model of case management. Where to put your focus as a risk manager and how to ask the best questions in order to make sure your claims are being managed in the best possible way.

How Health Management Programs Impact Workers’ Compensation Dec 16, 2020

How Health Management Programs Impact Workers’ Compensation This week we have Dr. Kimberly Gaston, Clinical Field Service Director at the Insurance Program Managers Group, explaining how health management programs impact workers’ compensation. IPMG is a third party administrator that works towards diminishing the number of workers' compensation claims, the duration of the claims as well as the claim cost. While there are many factors that determine the outcome of a claim they’ve uncovered the most significant influence is the decline in health of the claimant, leading to increased costs and a longer duration. The rate of chronic conditions are on the rise for all American age groups, at the current rate, 42% of Americans will be severely obese by 2030. Dr. Kimberly Gatson elaborates on: -How complicating health conditions can influence workers' compensation and injury management -How employee health management systems impact injury, recovery benefit and utilization -The different employee health management system administration options -The impact these systems have on COVID related health and disease prevention

Managing Infectious Disease Risks Nov 25, 2020

This week we have Dr. Teresa Bartlett, Senior Medical Officer at Sedgwick, discussing how to manage infectious disease risks, specifically elaborating on COVID-19. It’s imperative to understand how to manage the ongoing risks and consequences of the crisis at hand, understanding new information about how the virus is spread, comparing the efficacy of precautions and personal protective equipment as well as the long-term consequences of the virus, even for asymptomatic individuals. In today’s episode, Dr. Teresa Bartlett explains: the duration of quarantine pending exposure or having the COVID-19 The distribution of Pfizer’s vaccine that is currently in trial; and how it must be administered The latest clinical research CDC’s recent change for definition of close contact the impact related to physical and mental health

Protecting Public Entities In Public - Private Partnerships Nov 11, 2020

This week we have Amanda Franklin, Director of Risk Management at Wheaton College, explaining Public-Private Partnerships, and how to protect public entities. Public Private Partnerships differ greatly depending on the project - some examples can include: parks, prisons, charter schools, toll roads, university housing developments and hotels. The increase in popularity for Public Private Partnerships is due to aging infrastructure and smaller government budgets, but they’re also rich in complexities that come with the joint venture, so the following points need to be established contractually; as early as possible. Ownership: Public or Private Entity? State Law Immunity Protection Insurance Benefits: availability, price and length of coverage Specific Applicable Insurance Coverage Indemnification and Liabilities Responsibility of Construction and Ongoing Operations Employment Sourcing, Management, and Compensation Risk Reduction and Management The protection of public entities under state law vary for each state, specifically in terms of what a public committee can be sued for and the limitations of how much the public entity can be held liable for damages is particular to the partnership, with most states requiring the partnership to be owned by the public entity in order for Governmental Immunity Protection. In considering the intricacies of Public and Private Entities working together, the Risk Management perspective is invaluable in the process - being able to foresee risks, challenges and implementing safe programs that minimize liability.

Audits Vs Performance Reviews Vs Benchmarking Oct 28, 2020

On this episode, Mark Nestor, the President of Independent Consulting and Risk Management Services, will discuss Audit vs Performance Review, Reviews vs Benchmarking. Overview - the differences between an audit, performance review and a benchmarking study: Audits are an analysis under prescribed standards, normally undertaken by a qualified independent firm. They're looking to follow national or state guidelines, and are marginally collaborative between the auditor and the client. A performance review is a much broader view, blended of informal and formal activities, and can be conducted internally or externally. Whereas benchmarking, is a very informal process, that’s predefined quantitative and qualitative analysis based on the entities’ key metrics using either national standards, such as IRIS - the insurance regulatory information systems - but it's important to understand the IRIS standards are really not mandated or applicable in the public entity or the public sector. The audit, performance review and benchmarking are all tied together, but it's very difficult to do a performance review or benchmark without having the financial auditing information serve as the foundation. Your performance review and benchmarking are key metrics that you can use to help manage and implement activities that either are derived from the performance review or key activities that may arrive out of the audit process itself.

Guidance For Developing Your Safety Program With Erica Moncayo Oct 14, 2020

OSHA is overseen by the Department of Labor. Their mission is to assure safe and healthful working conditions for all working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and by providing training outreach, education and assistance. As a company it's important that you understand how to comply with OSHA standards, by understanding what they mean and who has the authority to implement for your company in order to avoid violations. We explain in detail what a safety program looks like, the top ten violations, who needs a safety program, and when training has to be implemented. The top ten OSHA violations - 1. Fall Protection 2. Hazardous Communication (not having an actually written program or information readily available) 3. Scaffolding 4. Control of Hazardous Energy (the employee is properly trained) 5. Respiratory Protection (OSHA has made some adjustments due to COVID-19) 6. Ladders 7. Powered Industrial Trucks (retraining every three years, and who can train) 8. Training Requirements for Fall Protection 9. Machine Guarding (what do general requirements mean - all items that have a point of operation) 10. Personal Protective Equipment - and face protection Not every organization has the same exposure to hazards, at minimum training is handled at hire or at the onset of a particular task), but each organization must evaluate what safety program and standards apply to their industry.

Stop Loss Strategies with Lisa Stamm Sep 29, 2020

Stop Loss Strategies

Navigating Class Action Lawsuits Sep 11, 2020

Navigating Class Action Lawsuits From a legal standpoint, it's valuable to understand what qualifies a class action lawsuit from traditional lawsuits. Class action lawsuits have a lot of requirements, procedural requirements, a small number of suits actually become real class action suits. For your organization, the difference in cost of a traditional lawsuit to a class action lawsuit can be thousands to a hundred thousand dollars, and the difference in preparation requires another extensive layer to coordinate your defense. It is important to understand the three tiers of lawsuits, and more importantly how to handle a class action claims. The primary action is to focus on the class certification and to determine whether that's able to be upheld to the requirements or if it will be easy to defeat because that can make the greatest difference in the case. Four Requirements to Qualify as a Class Action Lawsuit Numerosity Typicality Adequacy Commonality

The Complexities Of A Post - Opioid Climate Aug 26, 2020

The Complexities Of A Post - Opioid Climate

PRIMA Institute 2020 Jun 26, 2020

PRIMA Institute 2020 PRIMA Institute is a five-day intensive educational program that is aimed primarily at improving strategies and techniques in the public risk management sector. The program is developed for risk managers, corporate partners and other professionals who seek a more thorough and specialized approach to risk management. Not only are the fundamentals covered, but emerging issues and best practices are also discussed. Put together by industry experts and practitioners, including past attendees, PRIMA Institute’s schedule is structured in a manner that ensures that all attendees are able to travel along the same educational route. PRIMA Institute’s inclusive nature creates a great learning atmosphere for both experienced and new attendees. The program relies heavily on sharing experiences, including successes and failures, with your peers. Now is a great time to gather and gain more knowledge especially as the variety of risks are continually changing. If you are looking to sharpen your risk management skills, network with others in your field and interact with various industry leaders, then PRIMA Institute is for you!

Medical Treatment And Costs Associated With COVID - 19 May 27, 2020

Medical Treatment And Costs Associated With COVID - 19

Keeping Up With First Responder Presumption Laws May 06, 2020

The legal definition of presumption law, how it is established in a variety of jurisdictions and the widening of the ‘first responder’ classifications amdist the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed during this podcast. As a result of the pandemic, there are now states considering legislation that will include COVID-19 in its presumption laws, as well as expanding the list of to whom these laws will apply as a first responder. These laws typically only apply to public sector personnel. However, as the pandemic continues, they will most likely extend into the private sector due to the wide variety of those that are now included in the first responder category. Some main presumptions for first responders include: Cancer Lung and Respiratory Bloodborne Pathogens Heart and Vascular

Q&A with Public Risk Managers Responding to COVID-19 Apr 22, 2020

Q&A with Public Risk Managers Responding to COVID-19

Innovative Technology to Manage Law Enforcement Risks Apr 06, 2020

Innovative Technology to Manage Law Enforcement Risks with Charles Craft, Bo Chang, and Ariel Jenkins.

Employee Wellness An Essential Component To Improved Morale and Optimal Performance Mar 20, 2020

On this week's podcast we have Dr. Felice Carlton who is a Registered Nurse, Certified Health Coach, and Possibility Strategist, also known as “Dr. Possibility.” This award-winning transformation specialist is known for creating sustainable health changes and helping clients to achieve significant weight loss, decreased blood sugars, cholesterol levels, and blood pressures without the use of additional medications. Listen in as she discusses how to boost morale among your employees. Importance of Employee Wellness If you look from a financial standpoint organizations spend a lot of money on decreased productivity. The United States itself spends about $300 billion every year on lost productivity, absenteeism, which means someone is physically present at work, but they're not able to function at their full capacity due to mental distractions, depression, staff turnover, medical, legal, insurance, reimbursement prices, may all be a result of just stress. Employee wellness reaches into every area of your organization/entity so should be an important thing as a company to acknowledge. Stress being one of the main root causes of diabetes, high blood or cholesterol, headaches/migraines, and digestive issues it can create a wide variety of health issues in all ages and demographics. Signs of Stress Low energy Emotionally unstable - sad then immediately frustrated/upset Anxious GI/Digestive Issues Weight Gain Heart Disease Absences As an organization it is important to create a culture of understanding where your staff and employees can let you know they are under stress, the workload is too much and/or something as simple as instilling the importance of taking real breaks whether its a lunch break (and not working from their mobile device) or two 15 min breaks to focus shift so there is overall more productivity.

Tips And Resources To Manage Through The Covid - 19 Crisis Mar 13, 2020

Tips And Resources To Manage Through The Covid - 19 Crisis On this week’s podcast we have Marco Guardi the Regional Risk Control Leader at Gallagher sharing tips and resources for your organizations to implement through the current coronavirus pandemic. In addition to the CDC guidance on pandemic plans your entity or organization if within the public sector should have a C O O P - continuity of operations plan when faced with such a crisis as a natural disaster or a similar event. In regards to the education sectors a continuation plan may include home-based activities for K - 12 as well as some online instruction and/or programs. If there has been a contamination in a specific education location options may be to use an alternate location if needed with full instructional content. Things to include: School calendar changes Employees’ concerns of operating within an organization Who is at risk how can they work from home or remotely Detailed communication to all and any stakeholders

Navigating Workplace Accidents For K - 12 Schools Mar 10, 2020

Navigating Workplace Accidents For K - 12 Schools with Debra Spamer and Tom Strasburger. On this week’s podcast we have Debra Spamer and Tom Strasburger discussing ways to implement more effective injury management programs within your school systems. Opportunities to address workplace accident challenges When an incident does arise there are a lot of things to think about/factor in as workplace accidents usually aren’t a common thing that you would face on a day to day basis. First steps in addressing the challenge of a workplace accident is having a plan - knowing what your state and district policies/procedures are is very important so the right individuals take the right steps immediately. Defined injury reporting and triage process Paperwork procedure compliance/immediacy of reporting Injured worker receives impartial and compassionate medical attention Cause of injury: hazard or common place Initiative and time to retrain the injured employee with follow up on their outside care/steps to avoid future accidents If you haven’t done so already - take time to see if there are services or third parties in your district/city that can streamline and organize each step that needs to be taken care of for you, professionally and immediately once an accident has taken place.

Fair Use And You - Understanding Copyright Risk In Education Feb 24, 2020

On this week's podcast we have Thom Rickert the Vice President, Head of Marketing and Emerging Risk Specialist at Argo Group International. Listen in as Thom discusses copyright risks in education. Fair Use Doctrine Where it applies fair use is a right - not just a privilege. The Supreme court has pointed out, fair use keeps copyright from violating the first amendment with the internet and other technologies a clear understanding of fair use is more important today than ever before. Fair use is flexible, though it's not uncertain or it's not unreliable or for any particular field of creative activity. Legal system considers expectations in practice in assessing what is fair within the field and the use of copyrighted materials for a public purpose may be considered fair use and not a copyright violation. Educational Institutes Judges usually have four criteria when evaluating according to the law whether an education's use is fair use. How is the work being used? (For teaching or entertainment) What kind of work is being taught/shared? (Factual/informational or creative) How much of the work is being copied or used for substance? Is the owner of the work losing any economic status and/or the ability to continue publishing more work. For more insight and information on how as an educator you can be compliant to federal copyright laws and easy ways to implement them continue listening to this week's podcast.

Uncovering The Truth - Body Language And Fraud Detection Feb 10, 2020

Uncovering The Truth - Body Language And Fraud Detection by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Wellness - Based Safety With Jay Jones Jan 27, 2020

On this week's podcast we have Jay Jones the safety and training officer for the city of Boulder, Colorado. We will be discussing wellness based safety and how it can be incorporated into your entities or organizations. In both wellness and safety programs a common theme would be using proactive and known measures to ensure or enhance the quality of life for all employees within your organization and entity. Wellness enhanced safety programs is another term for taking a proactive approach to injury prevention. By educating all individuals that come through your place of work whether long term or temporary employees that wellness and safety measures ultimately start at home and before they even come to work for the day. Benefits that Jay and his municipality have seen are fewer worker compensation claims resulting from happier and healthier workers which has increased job morale, better production and quality of work. On top of this has also been job retention therefore communicating to management that the wellness program has and is working so then Jay and his team were able to increase the parameters of their wellness based safety program.

Overcoming The Dangers Of Distracted Driving Jan 14, 2020

Overcoming The Dangers Of Distracted Driving Welcome to PRIMA'S 2020 Podcast Series! On this first episode of the year we have Margaret Penado, the risk manager for Coconino County in Arizona, she will be discussing how to overcome distracted driving by explaining some history on how individually driven transportation has evolved over the years. The reality is that as technology has progressed our awareness of how powerful the cars and vehicles we operate on a daily basis has declined. Yes, they are not a horse pulling a buggy like in older days but they are not perfect and often have mechanical issues, the operators (drivers) of these vehicles large and small on the road dont necessarily have to 'do' as much which increases the dangers for themselves and others on the road.

Developing Excellence In Cybersecurity Management With Henry Svendblad Dec 11, 2019

On this week's podcast we have Henry Svendblad he is the Chief Technology Officer at Company Nurse LLC he will be discussing developing excellence in cybersecurity management. Cyber security in the public sector? Specifically in the current workers' comp public sector it is very inadequate mostly due to the complex systems and outdated online knowledge about online security. Ideally at minimum every organization in this industry that has access to individually identifiable information or health information should follow some of the basic outline of the HIPAA and high tech technical safeguards. So for example, that is making sure that data is encrypted both in transit and at rest, and that the systems that you use provide audit trail capabilities to see who has access to that protected information. Why has there been such an increase in cyber attacks? Unfortunately, cyber crime has become an established industry and organization that functions ultimately to use techniques like ransomware to freeze and hold large amounts of information and data rather than just receiving and using credit cards from the local person down the street. One very common way has been targeted email attacks that mimic a request from a CEO or individual in the company with detailed requests for payroll information or the credentials to the computer they may be using which is known as spear fishing.

Liability for Police Encounters Nov 21, 2019

Liability for Police Encounters by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Preparing For And Responding To A Cyber Attack Oct 29, 2019

Preparing For And Responding To A Cyber Attack by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

ECommerce Risk - Protect Your Transactions Oct 21, 2019

ECommerce Risk - Protect Your Transactions by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Safely Obtaining And Storing Data Information From The Public Oct 12, 2019

Safely Obtaining And Storing Data Information From The Public

Addressing Phishing Threats with Kelly Thiele Oct 06, 2019

Addressing Phishing Threats with Kelly Thiele

Social Media Safety with Brian Scully - Cyber Security Awareness Month Sep 30, 2019

Social Media Safety with Brian Scully

Is Self - Funding Right For Your Organization Sep 16, 2019

On this week’s show we have Belva Hale discussing if self-funding insurance is right for your entity or organization. She is the Vice President of business development at Sherrill Morgan with years of experience in varying roles in municipal governments, assisting employers with Human Resources, Risk Management and Benefit issues by strategizing outcomes that benefit both the citizens in the community and the employees is a fulfilling challenge. Self Funding Insurance vs Fully Insured Firstly, it depends on the size of your organization and depending on that determines if you will have the benefit of being able to have control over the plans for your employees where you can establish that plan to meet the needs of your policy. Usually if you have a hundred employees or more, you're a real good candidate for self funding as well as how your plan is being utilized is good criteria to look at being self-funded or using a fully insured plan. Its important to also consider and look into your premiums - are they increasing yearly and how much and the reason that it is increasing at the rate it is. With self-funding you have more control, more ability to know what is going on and why.

ESharing Mobility With Thom Rickert Aug 13, 2019

ESharing Mobility With Thom Rickert On this week’s podcast we will hear from Thom Rickert on eSharing Mobility. Thom is the Vice President of the Argo Group where he is in charge of the marketing and emerging risks.

2019 Annual Conference Student Scholar Reflection Jul 30, 2019

On this week's podcast we will hear from Zakaria a recent graduate from the University of Colorado Denver business school. He attended the PRIMA 2019 annual conference as a student scholar and we hope you enjoy hearing his feedback and experience. Zakaria graduated with a double major in finance, risk management and insurance. Attending school in Colorado Zakaria was able to join the monthly Colorado chapter PRIMA meetings there and attended a conference, being introduced to the organization through the university helped him get plugged in. He intends to help business move forward even with impending risks as it is something to avoid but acknowledge and strategize accordingly. This year at the annual PRIMA national conference he really enjoyed the ERM (Enterprise Risk Management) sessions - as it looks at all sides of the risk managment and insurance and produces mitigation plans along with those things that arent insurable and the way an organization can move forward. Highlight for Zakaria was being able to network and meet professionals who currently work in the risk management world and gain insight for those that are currently doing the work and handling risks, insurance, finance and the variety of challenges they face and solutions that have been implemented to handle those situations.

Service Animals In The Workplace Jul 17, 2019

Service animals in the workplace - with Sasha Dyson.

PRIMA Institute 2019 Jun 06, 2019

PRIMA Institute 2019 by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Developing Your ADA Self - Evaluation & Transition Plan Jun 05, 2019

On this week's podcast we'll discuss developing your ada self - evaluation and transition plan with Dana Barton who is the director for the Rocky Mountain Ada Center in Colorado.

Disaster Recovery In Workers Compensation With Lisa Anne Bickford May 20, 2019

On this week’s episode we will discuss disaster recovery in workers' compensation looking at the differences between Hurricane Harvey that hit the state of Texas the the campfire that impacted California. Lisa Anne Bickford is the director of Worker's compensation government relations at Coventry healthcare.

Cross Generational Workforces May 06, 2019

We'll discuss cross generational workforces today on this podcast with Sharon who is the human resources and employment risk consultant and trainer for cities and counties in Oregon. I define cross generational workforces as groups of employees born and raised during different generations that are currently working together on the same team, same department or same organization. Each generation of employees, they bring themselves to their day to day role in their organization. Yet we know that there are strong societal trends and patterns that impact the way each of the generations views everything from work ethics to politics, to cultural norms, to day to day values and expectations. So it's important to understand how our perspectives may have been influenced by the generation that influenced us in order for our workplace culture to thrive.

Key Considerations In High Profile Critical Incidents Apr 22, 2019

On this PRIMA podcast Richard Spiers will discuss key considerations in high-profile critical incidents. Richard has been in the insurance industry since 1980. He has served as a Claims Executive in the reinsurance and excess marketplace since 1985.

Sober Living Homes With Robin Leal Apr 09, 2019

On this PRIMA podcast, Robin Leal will discuss Sober Living Homes. Robin is the second Second Vice President of Public Sector Services at Travelers. What exactly is a Sober Living Home (SLH) Sober living home is used to describe a drug-free environment where an individual lives after a drug rehabilitation stay. Rehabbing adults will live in a group home with six or less adults typically, while transitioning back into a life routine. Most participants will go to school and/or work, and then return to the SLH at the end of the day for a meal and to sleep. There is one condition, the resident must remain sober. That means no alcohol or drug use. If either is used, he or she may be asked to leave the home Are drug counseling and medical treatments included? Those services are not part of an SLH. However, most participants living in the home will use one another for emotional support during their recovery process. Most homes will have an administrator available to ensure the house rules are followed – violating those rules can be grounds for an eviction.

What To Know When Establishing An On - Site Health Center Mar 26, 2019

This week’s guest is Terri Evans, she is the risk manager for the city of Kingsport, TN and was the President of PRIMA in 2017. She will be sharing what to know when establishing an on-site health center in your entity. Establish the reason of an On-site health center Manage health care costs, improve wellness, work within their worker's compensation around the job injury program. You may want to manage some occupational medicine services like post offer physicals or return to work evaluations. An onsite health center can help slow the rate of health plan cost increases, it can help manage chronic diseases, and it can help you with workplace wellness.

Cyberbullying Prevention With Rick Phillips Feb 26, 2019

Root Causes of Cyber Bullying Increase With the multitude of social media platforms available to young people research tells us that these platforms tend to give the perception that individuals have the freedom to be mean spirited and/or exhibit mean behavior to others without fear of any kind of accountability or action taken against them. What’s most concerning is that cyber bullying has doubled in the past 10 years. The reality is, that this generation – anyone born after 1995 are being raised and living through technology which has increased the access and opportunity for not only kids to use it for good but also for negative purposes. The average use not including school work hours that social media is being used is 9 hours a day – Schools and educators are trying to educate families and young people on what electronic aggression and cyber bullying is. Along with school staff encouraging awareness on this issue there has been an increase in technology and firewalls developed to help combat cyber bullying including some legal measures as well to combat this growing epidemic. Legislation, technology and forms of education have not been completely effective or we wouldn’t be seeing an increase in the number of incidents.

Acquisition Cost Index Pricing For Medications With Mark Morgan Feb 05, 2019

Acquisition Cost Index Pricing For Medications With Mark Morgan

What To Know About V2V And V2l Technologies With Thom Rickert Jan 18, 2019

What to know about V2V and V2L Technologies Thom Rickert is the Vice President for the Argo Group, serving also as its Emerging Risk Specialist. With over 3 decades of insurance industry experience, he is just the person to talk to about the emerging V2V and V2I technologies.

Drug Formularies - A Growing Trend In Workers’ Compensation With Ben Roberts Dec 18, 2018

Drug Formularies: A Growing Trend In Workers’ Compensation with Ben Roberts Today’s guest is Ben Roberts who explains the advantages and/or limitations of what a Drug formulary is and if your entity should consider it if the legislation and/or regulators in your state propose it as an option to help reduce certain prescribed drugs such as opioids. Drug Formularies: A list of medications that may or may not be prescribed to an injured worker or patient. In regards to workers’ compensation a formulary is not referring to payment levels for reimbursement. Patient safety, appropriate medications are being prescribed and dispensed to injured workers who have active workers’ compensation are the most important factors with drug formularies specific to workers’ compensation. Where Drug Formularies are being Implemented in the United States There are 9 different states who have implemented drug formularies – Arizona, Arkansas, California, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee and Washington some of which have only begun being implemented since this past July.

Mental Wellbeing In The Workplace Dec 04, 2018

Mental Wellbeing in the workplace with Teresa Bartlett

Election Security With Joshua Traynor And TJ Sayers Nov 05, 2018

On this week’s episode we have Joshua Traynor and TJ Sayers will discuss election security. The EAC provides a lot of resources as well on their website. Some of them are glossaries for IT terms, common cybersecurity terminology. They have incident response best practices, some videos to understand cybersecurity, and the many offers that are available to election offices. They also provide best practices, checklists for securing voter registration data, securing election night reporting systems, things to that nature, more information on testimonials and testimony that's been given to Congress, participation in election cybersecurity calls, and statements also for election security preparedness.

Lessons From DHS Cyber Incident Response Oct 25, 2018

Lessons From DHS Cyber Incident Response by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Lessons Learned From Being An Adversary Oct 17, 2018

Lessons Learned From Being An Adversary by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Securing Federal Networks Oct 10, 2018

Securing Federal Networks by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Cyber Attacks Oct 10, 2018

Cyber Attacks by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Ransomware Oct 03, 2018

Ransomware by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month Overview Sep 27, 2018

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month Overview by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Behavior - Based Fleet Safety And Risk Management With Robert Donahue Sep 17, 2018

Behavior-based safety focuses on the root cause of an issue rather than the act itself. For example, emphasis may be placed on following distance while driving when examining an accident. Was the driver hitting the brakes because they are inattentive, not leaving themselves enough space or putting themselves in a dangerous space? Understanding the root causes of an issue helps reduce ‘close calls’ rather than increase the likelihood of an actual accident. Behavior-based fleet safety also utilizes metrics to learn the patterns exhibited by risky drivers. This process begets a system that permits your entity to better evaluate how to lower overall risks by understanding the behaviors of your employees. Looking into an individuals’ behaviors and/or bad habits that have been developed overtime grants entities the opportunity to lower risks by acknowledging those habits and removing the behavior rather than removing the individual/employee themselves. Another aspect which entities should consider when implementing behavior-based safety is by pinpointing where their time and money spent would have a better impact with technology or training. A simple way your entity can start implementing behavior-based fleet safety may be upgrading your vehicles with video technology. However, that video technology may only show you that your policies are not being implemented with a spotter exiting the vehicle as the driver backs up to help assist with blind spots and lower the risk of hitting an object and/or the driver simply isn’t using the mirrors in the vehicle properly.

Medicare Secondary Payer Best Practices With Patrick Czuprynski Sep 05, 2018

The Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Act has expanded the scope of workers’ compensation and liability claims beyond each individual state’s law concerning Medicare compliance. It also extends responsibility to plaintiffs’ attorneys, claimants of state, as well as self-insureds. As a result, it is vital to realize who is making payments for medical benefits on both accepted cases and disputed cases. There are a variety of ways that your organization can consider the MSP act and still be in compliance with its new regulations. It is advised to begin with conducting a comprehensive review of each claim prior to choosing a course of action. When determining Medicare’s future interest in a settlement, an entity will generally not provide a future medical allocation while documenting that no future medical allocation was provided. Options for considering Medicare’s future interest in a settlement include: Commutation approach – takes into consideration what to reasonably expect to compensate for future medical expenses after the date of the settlement as a result of a work-related injury or disease. Compromise approach – takes disputes on the case into consideration and is generally computed by an MSA (Medical Savings Account) that funds an accepted portion of the claim or an MSA that is based on a percentage of the settlement. Seeking CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) approval – A voluntary process in which parties involved in the case are not required to undertake. This process typically leads to an overfunded MSA or an MSA that funds all possible treatments rather than probable or expected treatments. Entities can address Medicare’s reimbursement requests on payments made by asking for documentation confirming that the request is related to the case and to ensure that reimbursement is indeed owed. At times, Medicare may ask for something that is not related to the claim itself. If it is a possibility that Medicare wrongfully collected on the case, the entity should investigate/appeal the request and search for methods to reduce the amount they are asking for or they have already taken from the case. When reviewing these cases, it is imperative to maintain the mindset that the burden of proof should lie with Medicare.

Identifying And Managing The Risks Of Borrowed Employees Aug 15, 2018

The risk management arena sometimes may seem a little gray, particularly if it involves the services of borrowed employees. For example, under law, an organization or municipality can be held liable for injuries suffered by a third party even if the individual is an employee borrowed from another company or an independent contractor. Such employees present a slippery slope for organizations who seek their services, primarily because the organization has little control or insight into the employees’ initial hiring, training and/or supervision. Amplifying the overall risk notwithstanding, borrowing workers is oftentimes extremely convenient. However, the situation requires that the organization relying on borrowed workers takes some precautions prior to committing to their services. • The organization should not pass on the option to commit the conditions of potential injury or misconduct to paper. As a result, the organization can create the opportunity to shift the responsibility to the third party’s company if a lawsuit is issued by the third party. But for the contract to be valid, the third party’s company needs to be covered by insurance that extends to lending employees and their actions. • The organization in need of borrowed labor should look into the other company’s hiring and training process, and potentially set the terms of the employee’s quality (years of experience, for instance) • The organization in need of borrowed labor should hold its end of the bargain in terms of notifying the employee’s company of any problems that may arise. Joint Employment Joint employment is defined as two or more employers sharing direct control over an employee. Consequently, both employers are responsible for the actions of that employee. Although the law is clear in these cases, situations involving two or more employers can become murky enough. For instance, consider how overtime work is regulated in these conditions. Both employers have an obligation to honor the employee’s hours, but the decision concerning who pays the employee what cut is entirely up to them. Lawsuits It is perfectly reasonable for a third party member to file a suit directed at the organization contracting the services of borrowed workers. Even if the borrowed workers are independent contractors, under law they are listed as employees of that organization and under very broad terms. What is of utmost importance is for the contracting company to notify their attorney of the incoming suit as soon as possible. Any contracts the organization may have signed should also be provided to the attorney. How the remainder of the suit is handled boils down to the particularities of each separate case.

Incorporating Microlearning Into Your Risk Management Strategy With Jim Nulsen Aug 01, 2018

With a great number of organizations striving towards ever greater integration, microlearning has become a viable training method due to its engaging and interactive nature. Microlearning offers a series of short courses that are designed to expound on very specific points of a key topic. Topics and Format At times associated with meeting the needs of millennials, microlearning provides bite-sized chunks of applied wisdom that encompass a wide array of topics. Increased retention of acquired information, salvaged time and lower training costs are a few potential benefits that result from microlearning systems’ design as a fast and focused means of delivering information. The employment of microlearning provides managers and other organizational leaders an opportunity to address their team with timely information on goals, announcements or changes in strategy. Through video or other forms of media, managers can communicate and focus their team’s energy in real time. Integration with Existing Systems Microlearning also allows for the ability to integrate with other systems operating within the organization. For example, a maintenance worker for an organization may be tasked with an assignment that requires knowledge of certain safety procedures. If the work order for the assignment is linked to the organization’s system that is integrated with a microlearning system, the microlearning system can send a reminder of the safety procedures to the worker via the chosen method of delivery (e.g. text message) just in time for the job execution. This integration can also nullify the need for the Internet when applying a microlearning system. When partnered with claims management and incident tracking systems, microlearning systems can predict the possibility of injury and suggest courses to minimize the risks.

Web - Based Safety - HR Training With Gregg Juster Jul 17, 2018

Web-based safety training affords both private and public entities the opportunity to salvage employees’ ability to work without traveling long distances for training, therefore saving copious amounts of time and money. For instance, one county that was part of a Webnet study was able to save half a million dollars in lost employee productivity after five years of utilizing an online safety training platform. Programs designed for employees to learn via the internet offer insight into health and safety practices that are applicable to your entity. These online programs track who has taken and/or completed a given training, as well as who completed the tests that supplement the information taught during the training. This presents an outlet to reinforce the principles and other information gathered from the training. It is also important to understand that not all training can be done online. For example, sections of the training that require written or typed responses may be taken remotely, however, demonstrations involving how to safely operate a forklift will still need to be conducted in person. Scheduling and management of the trainings can be tasked to the online program, as opposed to Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) personnel and risk managers bearing the burden of directly creating and developing the programs themselves, in turn diminishing their workload. As a result, online training provides a more efficient means for risk managers to monitor employees and ensure that best practices and safety measures are being taken into account.

PRIMA Institute 2018 Amy Larson And Terri Evans Jun 26, 2018

Amy Larson has served as the Risk litigation manager for the city of Bloomington, Minnesota for the past 18 years. With over 22 years of experience as Risk manager, Amy is PRIMA’s 2017/2018 President. Terri Evans service includes a variety of positions in Kingsport Tennessee, being the city’s Risk manager since the year 2001. She is Amy’s predecessor as the President of PRIMA, having served her mandate in 2016/2017. Together they will bring attention to the impending 2018 PRIMA Institute and emphasize the benefits of becoming a PRIMA member.

Chronic Pain In An Aging Workforce With Kevin Lombardo May 27, 2018

On this week's podcast the President and CEO of DORN, Kevin Lombardo discuss chronic pain in our aging workforces across the United States. Since 2000, DORN Companies has helped workers stay healthy and employers avoid costly workers’ compensation and healthcare claims. We started as a pain mitigation company, providing practical therapy that works. Over time, we moved into preventing workplace injuries and claims—helping to reduce OSHA recordables and cut medical costs that just keep on climbing. What kind of impact does pain have in the workplace? Unfortunately, pain impacts millions everyday and chronic pain identified as the same pain lasting more than 12 weeks is an epidemic in many workplaces. According to the Journal of Pain, pain costs the US economy 635 billion dollars annually. Breaking it down into medical costs of 300 billion and lost productivity due to workers living and working with pain that exists longer than 3 months. Over exertion is the leading cause of non fatal disabling injuries. Not only is chronic pain an issue to our workers physically but also psychologically - 77% of those 100 million are also depressed due to their pain.

Biopsychosocial Approach for Treating Injured Workers With Michelle Despres May 15, 2018

Michelle Despres is the Vice President and Natural Product Leader for One Call Care Management. Set on improving the return-to work-results, Michelle explains the importance of biopsychosocial approach in workers’ compensation treatment plan.

Managing Comorbid Conditions With Eric Patten May 01, 2018

Our guest today is Eric Patten, RN, BSN, Senior Director of Clinical Education Services at One Call Care Management which is the nation’s leading provider of specialized solutions to the workers’ compensation industry. Eric and his team review reports on how to better address comorbid issues that commonly impact workers’ compensation claims such as hypertension, mental health issues, obesity, diabetes, substance abuse and tobacco use. What is a Comorbid Condition? Pre-existing conditions that an injured individual may or may not have – it could be anything like depression, anxiety from mental health issues to someone walking around with diabetes but not realizing it. Tobacco use is also a comorbid condition but in the short term doesn’t always affect claim issues however long term can enhance the possibility of a worker having hypertension, diabetes, cardiac issues and obesity.

Talent Risk - The Missing ERM Link Apr 18, 2018

Joyce Dunn is the Vice President and Managing Director for the Jacobson Group, running different executive-level searches for multiple organizations. Acknowledging the existence of emerging human resource shortage, she shares her expertise on how ERM tackles the new impending risk within the insurance industry. ERM platform has enjoyed much success in the insurance industry ever since its formal implementation in 2002. At first utilized as risk management strategy for such future events as finance, operation, compliance risk etc., ERM has recently included new target areas of interest such as customer service, ethics, or moral complaints. Also more importantly, it now includes talent risk management.

Creating An Atmosphere Of Accountability Apr 03, 2018

Randy Anderson is co-founder of E3 Professional Trainers who has been helping companies, teams, and individuals become better equipped for exceling at what they do. Specializing in employ engagement, communication, and conflict resolution, Randy opens up on how to create and cherish the atmosphere of accountability in a company.

Workplace Violence Insurance And Risk Protection With Paul Marshall Mar 05, 2018

Paul Marshall is the Managing Director at The McGowan Companies responsible for developing the Active Shooter/Workplace Violence Insurance Program. Insuring over a thousand businesses, he has recently won the Insurance Business America’s Top Influencer/Innovator/Game-changer award. He explains the necessity of updating the Insurance policies in cases of mass shootings. As years roll on we are witnessing an ever greater threat of shooting incidents. The numbers don’t lie: 2017 recorded one act of mass shooting per day on average, a trend that has seen a steady increase during the last decade. Standard insurance policies have struggled to respond in satisfactory manner, precisely the reason why new and improved policies emerged.

How Disruptive Technology Can Change Claims Management Feb 19, 2018

We’ve come a long way since putting films into our cameras. The advancement in technology changed the whole game in the area of photography to the point that it shifted the paradigms in operating them. Though not quite dramatically, disruptive technology has significantly altered the claims industry as well. Having an element of innovation, disruptive technology has potential to force an industry into shifting its ways, often for the better. Disruptive Technology in Claims Business Claims industry has had its share of technological advances that have raised the level of performance and made operation and claim management somewhat different. There is more emphasis on mobility now, constant access to the Internet has meant more unrestrained, remotely operated work. There is also a huge element of more effective data management due to this huge storage capacity made possible by the use of technology. Related to this is the cleaner, neater, paperless working environment. Probably the biggest shift the industry has undergone is the level of analytics involved into every strata of claims management process. The huge capacity for storage is put to good use by computing all this data into useful bits of extremely accurate information. Going out on the field, disruptive technology has morphed into drones that find ever greater usage in preliminary investigative processes, particularly in the highly risky, unapproachable disaster situations.

Millennials In The Insurance Industry With Molly Owen Feb 05, 2018

Millennials In The Insurance Industry With Molly Owen by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

Next Level Claims Strategy Jan 23, 2018

Christopher Mandel is the Director at Sedgwick Institute and a former President of the Risk and Insurance Management Society. 2004 Risk Manager of the Year, Christopher has a commanding experience in the field and a resume too long to list out. He is here to put claims management into a new perspective, describing the new claim strategies that have emerged recently. Claims management processes took a significant directional shift in recent times. Rather than unduly generating bad blood between the parties, claimants have become customers, deserving and worthy of our empathy. The focus of these processes has turned towards recovery and finding the best possible resolution in the shortest time period possible. The goal has become to get the injured worker back to work as quickly as possible, to the mutual benefit of both parties.

Using Data to Mitigate Risks in Schools Jan 10, 2018

Charlie Wund is the founder and President of Agency for Student Health Research. Maintaining close contact with every strata of pediatrics, he believes that controlling the injury risk in schools lies in the more effective utilization of data. Numbers of repeated injuries show that the injury report process in schools is often slow and inefficient. This has very little to do with the amount of care applied, but to what protocols are in place to mitigate the risks of injury. The biggest issue lies in the inadequate communication between the staff members, a gap that the new technologies are able to bridge with much success.

School Laboratory Safety With Kevin O'Sadnick Dec 19, 2017

Kevin O’Sadnick is a notable Risk Control Manager with keen interest in controlling the risk in laboratory environment. Understanding the specifics of school labs, he breaks down the safety precautions and procedures necessary for minimizing or neutralizing the risks inside it. To keep everybody free from harm, specific environments rest upon safety measures designed with the specifics of that environment in mind. School Laboratory is the case in point; an academic setting where even the slightest bit of error may cause great damage. If mishandled, the biggest advantage of school labs may turn into its greatest hazards.

The Ins And Outs Of Wrongful Prosecution Lawsuits Dec 06, 2017

Wrongful Claims By The Numbers Since 1990s, there has been a fairly consistent demographic and gender pattern to wrongful prosecution and conviction claims. 47% of these are black, 40% white, 12% Hispanic while 2% accounts for the rest. As for gender, 91% of the claimants are men and 9% are women. Homicides and sexual assaults are the most prominent of crimes that receive claims, 43% and 27% respectively. The average time a claimant served in prison is 14 years. Witness misidentification is the single most significant contributor to false convictions. The other is unreliable forensics, many of whose techniques are subjected to error. False confession, although puzzling, is involved in 25%-40% of cases. The Question of Insurance Naturally, with wrongful convictions the insurance side of things inevitably comes into play. Many arguments have been put forward as to what policy is triggered in response to the claim, until it was generally settled on the initial violation of claimant rights. A notable majority of them occur during the arrest or the indictment, depending on the case at hand.

Managing Liabilities Created By Third Parties Nov 06, 2017

Our guest is Mollie Werwas, a partner at the Kopon Airdo law firm and a non-for-profit nursing homes litigation representative. She has successfully managed complex insurance coverage issues for both state and national level clients. Having more than an extensive background in public risk management, Werwas unwraps the complex public entities-private contractor relationship and explains the steps public entities should take in order to protect themselves from liability created by the third-party contractors.

Workers’ Compensation Fraud Trends Oct 25, 2017

Dalene Bartholomew is the Vice President of Probe Information Services Inc. and an Anti-fraud training expert. Having multiple certifications in fraud investigation, she offers the sweeping view of the current workers’ compensation frauds condition while explaining the role of Special Investigation Units. Despite the best efforts, workers’ compensation frauds cannot be eradicated. Unfortunately, both employers and workers sometimes try to take advantage of the system, but the encouraging thing is that now we have more means to combat these fraudulent activities. We have seen the change for the better recently.

Leveraging the School-Police Partnership with John More Oct 02, 2017

Widely acclaimed speaker, John L. More is the Director and CEO of Response Law LLC. Having a legal background in defending school and public agencies, he also serves as a senior legal instructor at the company. Sharing his vast experience in the field, John L. More offers insight into school safety network. In controlled environment of schools, it is paramount that everyone know their roles and play in accordance with the rules overseeing them. As far as school-police partnership, each of the two sides should be familiar with how far they can go in protecting the students. But it is not enough to be familiar with their own boundaries; school administrators and SROs also need to be in the know of each other’s limits. Only then can the condition for absolute functioning be met.

The Keys To Managing Water Loss with Jeff Taxler Sep 12, 2017

Jeff Taxier is the education and training manager at American Technologies Inc. Prior to joining ATI, Jeff accumulated 35 years of experience holding a variety of positions at Allstate. He shares some of his expertise with us today, breaking down the water loss process.

Applying Ethical & Sustainable Design To Public Risk Management Aug 29, 2017

Thomas Johnson is the National Director of IME sales at Genex Services with commanding experience in the Independent Medical Examination industry. With a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Johnson acquired an MBA at Oxford University, only to found Generations IME Consulting. Business sustainability expert, he shares his knowledge on the role of IME testing within the scope of Permaculture, and how it benefits risk managers.

Fundamentals Of Strategic Physical Security Planning Aug 15, 2017

With over 30 years of experience in Risk Assessment and Emergency Planning at every level, Chris Wise has a unique perspective on Physical Security Planning and technology implementation. He is the co-founder of Invictus Consulting, LCC and has served in several security-related advisory committees. From simple locked doors to elaborate military bases, each security system is preceded by detailed plan of its construction. As for organizations, protecting them and their stakeholders means identifying the risks that may potentially impede their efficiency. Security Planning is not the same as Crisis Management Plan. The two should not be confused, the latter being much wider in scope. CMP takes into account all the aspect of an organization and is under the dominion of Business Impact Analysis, while physical security planning is more specific, it tailors towards individual areas of business and its facilities. It exclusively addresses areas of heightened physical damage risk.

Injury Exaggeration among Public Entity Employees Jul 26, 2017

Tara Marchand is the director and owner at Providian Therapy with years of experience in public entity healthcare. A graduate of Dalhousie University, she devoted much of her career to the field of Industrial Rehabilitation, along with conducting Functional Capacity Evaluation and Impairment Rating analysis. She explains the role FCE plays in cases of public entity workers symptom exaggeration. For public entities, symptom exaggeration is often an avoidable problem. About 10% of injury cases include some sort of SE, be it a minor strength loss, or indeed a claim of total work disability. Either way, this type of bad data has a significant effect on public entity indemnity costs as well as higher payout for injured workers.

The Sphere of Influence in Claim Settlement Jul 11, 2017

With nearly 4 decades of experience in the insurance field, Richard Spiers has dealt with a myriad of claims nationwide. Northern Illinois University graduate, Richard Spiers is the Vice President at Genesis Management and Insurance Services, as well as a member of the CPCU society. The question of whether to settle every claim or take some of them to court is an interesting one. According to Spiers, there is a reasonable incentive to, if the claimant demands are unreasonable or the facts support the defendant, indeed go to the trial. But before such move gets validated, a few pre-trial aspects must not be overlooked.

Cybersecurity: Trends & Threats Jun 27, 2017

On this week’s PRIMA episode Eugene Kipniss and Ben Spear will discuss 2017 cybersecurity trends and threats public risk professionals should be aware of to protect their entities. Eugene is a program specialist for the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) for their internet security and Ben Spear is a senior intelligence analyst at MS-ISAC. What to expect in 2017? Internet Security with common household items and every day items connected to the internet seemed to be a top of concern of MS-ISAC’s twitter followers after doing a non-scientific poll ie smart TVS, routers, devices that most all come with little to no security features and usually default passwords that are rarely changed by its users which can easily be compromised and used to ‘cyber attack’ other devices within a home. In regards to your business these same devices can be used to pivot into other secure and sensitive areas within your entity. As an organization you have most likely had internet devices within the workplace for several years: printers, teleconference hardware and certain billing admin systems all run with embedded software. Simple security measures – changing default passwords, segmented those systems away from the internet if there is no business needs can be done to protect your entity from intentional and unintentional devices that are brought into your workplace. Be aware of open source data dumps which have been used to attack other accounts within your entity. A seemingly easy security measure but often not taken into account is individuals having more than one password for their accounts. Usually a malicious cyber attack will find a person’s password(s) and attempt to use that same information elsewhere as well as sell it online to other cyber attackers.

PRIMA Institute 2017 May 29, 2017

The director of risk and safety for the city of Saratoga Springs, Marilyn is responsible for establishing the city’s first professional risk, insurance, and safety program. Recognized as the PRIMA Institute’s 2007 public risk manager of the year, she served as a member of PRIMA director’s board for four years and is here to talk to us about the new PI 17 educational program. PRIMA Institute 2017 is a week-long, intensive educational program serving as a confluence for practicing professionals and newcomers to meet and share their thoughts and experiences in public sector risk management. The entirety of period is optimized for best learning; the daily sessions, including the classes on safety and insurance in risk management, are led by the PRIMA Institute’s experts and leaders in the industry. These sessions are coupled with the early evening conversations among all attendees that will personalize the knowledge acquired during the day, helping the risk managers apply it to their respective environments. The PRIMA Institute hosts risk managers from both ends of the experience spectrum. The seasoned professionals, finding it so easy to fall into a trap of daily routine, are offered a spark, a fresh look at managing the risks in their environments. Newcomers are also welcome, and will appreciate the opportunity to learn both from the expert lecturers, and from their more experienced fellow attendees. October 2017 is when it all happens, with San Antonio being the city hosting the event. The following is a rough draft of day-to-day curriculum at this year’s PI: Monday - insurance and risk management; understanding risk and building programs; prevention and mitigation strategies Tuesday - risk methodology; claims, accident analysis, safety committees, and public relations as they pertain to risk Wednesday – role play with a case study Thursday – safety and emergency management Friday – mental health in a workplace; work place violence programs In PRIMA Institute, it is all about the totality of learning. For the true learning to take place, expert lecturers are not enough; we also need the healthy environment comprised of people who share interests, have been through it all, and are willing to pass the knowledge on. The PI 17 aims just that.

Save Your Employees: Putting an End to Driver Distractions with Tim McCarty May 09, 2017

Tim McCarty is the Associate Vice President of Trident Public Risk Solutions with 25 years of experience serving public entity clients. Obtaining several certifications specific to risk consults listen in as he discusses ways to put an end to driver distractions. In the last year driving fatalities have increased by 8% which is the highest level it has been in 12 years – originally safer roads and safety features within car structures helped decrease driving accidents and fatalities. Poor driving behaviors has become the majority reason there are so many accidents and fatalities on the road. Tim shares some of the most common distractions that drivers have – because of their own choices. The idea that you can multitask while driving is not accurate. As a human being can not fully and mentally do two tasks at once. You might be looking at the road in front of you but as you talk on the phone your focus and attention is on that conversation. You are not fully aware of your surroundings or the environment you are in and therefore can miss any number of things, a stop sign, child crossing the road, road changes or updates. Common Driver Distractions: • Eating and Drinking behind the wheel • Smoking • Programming a navigating system • Cell phones Distractions from cell phones account for 30% of collisions on the roadway and those that are only directly identifiable as not everyone admits to being distracted by their phone after the accident.

Addiction Issues And Narcotic Tapering In Chronic Pain Patients With Dr Branco Apr 25, 2017

Addiction Issues and Narcotic Tapering in Chronic Pain Patients with Dr. Branco On this week’s episode we will hear from Dr. Fernando Branco on narcotic tapering in chronic pain patients and addiction issues. He is the medical director at Midwest Employers Casualty Company where he leads a team of medical professionals who working with claims administrators to improve medical care while controlling losses in entities.

Resiliency as a Risk Management Priority with Chris Mandel Apr 04, 2017

This week’s guest Chris Mandel is the director of the Sedgwick Institute and is the Vice President for Sedgwick’s strategic solutions. Chris has more than 25 years of leadership experience in large global corporate management.

Managing <1 (On Average) Career Arrest-Related Death Risks Mar 14, 2017

This week’s guest is Michael Brave, President of LAAW International, Inc., and the former President of the International Force Institute, Inc. Michael is also the National Litigation Counsel for TASER International, Inc. (as well as a certified Master TASER® Instructor and Legal Advisor to the TASER Training Board). His experience includes involvement in a wide-range of comprehensive law enforcement and private security risk/liability and litigation management services including: training programs, policy development and review, liability/risk assessments, training appraisals, department audits, post critical incident analysis, etc. He has served as a litigation consultant and an expert witness in state and federal civil rights issues. How Many Arrests in the US result in risk of death? For every 71 encounters an officer has in the United States there will be one use of force or potential of use of force. Michael tell us that then for every 1000 use of force there will be one temporal death.

Budgeting Your Time for Maximum Productivity Feb 28, 2017

Our guest today is Randy Anderson, he is the founder of E-Three Professional Trainers where they provide customized training to help individuals become more engaged and better equipped to excel in their jobs. Learn a new perspective on time – how it applies in your day to day work schedule but also how to think about it in regards to your life. Time Budgeting What is the difference between time budgeting and time management? If time is money and most businesses and entities budget their money why not budget your time as well? Managing time isn’t really realistic – time is always coming and going. One can only manage the use of one’s time. Sometimes people spend more time on their time systems than actually their work. Time is Life – it is the currency of life. If the price of your time was dependent on how your used it what would be done differently?

The Transformation of Workers’ Comp Transportation with Joseph McCullough Feb 14, 2017

Today's guest is Joseph McCullough who is the Senior Vice President of Transportation and Translation at One Call Management. Having years of experience in this field he has built the transportation business from 20 million dollars to 135 million dollars in revenue and has successfully integrated other acquisitions to a highly driven business model. Ride Share Technology Has brought a fluidity to transportation due to scheduling ease, better patient experience as they know the name of the person arriving, a way to track the car picking them up and is more affordable for patients. Does Ride Share Improve the Care of an injured worker? 3.7 million people miss medical appointments every year due to transportation – with a lot of chronic illnesses and other issues just missing one appointment can cause quite the delay in recovery and progress for workers.

The Debate Continues: Medical Marijuana in Workers’ Compensation with Kevin Glennon Jan 30, 2017

On this week’s episode, Kevin Glennon discusses medical marijuana how it varies from state to state even as it is still illegal at the Federal level. Kevin conducts educational programs for claims executives, case managers, claims handlers and other administration and management personal. Status of the use of Medical Marijuana in Workers’ Compensation Currently through the controlled substance act of 1970s marijuana is still illegal at the federal level which does not include the 25 states who have legalized medical marijuana with 9 States in the previous election ballot. Recreationally: Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada (all were passed except AZ) Medical use: Arkansas, Florida, Montana, North Dakota. All were passed however with Montana specifically this new law and its restrictions resulted with many work compensation carriers denying coverage of medical marijuana. There are currently no guidelines for the Official Disability Guidelines or American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that would outline the use of medical marijuana in regards to an industrial accident, related injure or illness for management teams to base their claims or procedures off of.

Diabetes - Avoiding & Managing Its Adverse Impact On Claimant Recovery Jan 16, 2017

Today’s guest, Eric Panther discusses diabetes, avoiding and managing its adverse impact on claims recovery and management. He shares with us his 22 years of experience on diabetes, its types, causes, symptoms, and how it affects workers compensation claims. He is the clinical director of One Call Care Management. He tells us that diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. A whole lot of other subtopics were discussed on the subject issue, and some of these are: Types of diabetes The most common types of diabetes are type 1 and type 2. • Type 1 diabetes If you have type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. Your immune system attacks and destroys the cells in your pancreas that produce insulin. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, although it can appear at any age. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day to stay alive. The insulin is taken by an injection or a pump or a combination of both. • Type 2 diabetes This type of diabetes occurs most often in middle-aged workers and older people. Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes in which the pancreas produced is not accommodated by the body. If you have type 2 diabetes, your body does not make or use insulin well. Type 2 diabetes is more seen more seen in the workforce population and more common with obese workers.

Managing Risk in Workers’ Comp: The Value of Predictive Analytics Jan 02, 2017

Today’s guest, Michelle Despres shares with us what predictive analytics is all about, its importance, why it is trending in organizations today, claims management and how predictive analytics tackles it. She also enlightens us on the benefits of predictive analytics as regards to claims management and how to measure its success. Predictive analytics is the branch of advanced analytics which makes predictions about unknown future events. It uses many techniques to analyze data point to make future predictions. Its importance cannot be overemphasized as workers complain and make a lot of compensation claims. The predictive analytics then makes organizations become proactive, forward-looking and anticipating outcomes and behaviors of employees/workers. It also allows resources to be allocated and helps management reduce the incidence of exploding claims as claims have become trendy and expensive. Predictive Analytics helps organizations with issues such as obesities, aging, injuries, etc. to their workers reduce costs and help manage their outcomes. For example, a lot of professionals know when a claim can become costly but don't have the data to identify these claims as bad claims. Predictive analytics helps with the data that makes, stops or manage these claims from exploding to bad claims or getting very expensive hence saving costs. Benefits of Predictive Analytic Programs The benefits collecting data and P.A programs help organizations in the following ways: # Knowing the most objective way to allow for better management of claims # It helps organizations know what is happening, what is causing an event and the best way to manage it. # It allows organizations to make substantial savings, calculations and outcome measurements. # It gives companies the opportunity to apply the right resources at the right time. # Helps companies get in front of claims pro-actively. The data gotten from P.A helps reduce the risk of re-injury for employees returning to work as it improves the return to work outcome, control rising costs, and allows for tighter claims management. The gotten data also helps organizations get in front of claims before they become bad and also help give these organizations efficient medical management approach. An example of P.A and a bad claim is a situation whereby a certain department or category of workers in a certain company turned up with hand and wrist injuries. The predictive analytics data helped determined the cause of the injuries, why it was happening and the best approach to managing the situation to prevent further reoccurrences. Tips for Organizations that want to begin P.A # Start with the end in mind: Here the objective of the P.A should be ascertained before you delve into it. # Beware of data leakage. # When you have a claims management dilemma, start with the most expensive and frequent claims. # Determine what action would be taken on identified cases in time. How to Measure a Successful P.A Program A critical factor for a successful development of predictive analysis project is a well-defined set of business performance metrics specific to the organization business objectives. For this case they include # An increase in return to work outcome. # A decrease in overall claims by employees. #Reduction in hidden claims. # Cost reduction as regards injuries etc.

Useful Metrics for Claims Management Dec 12, 2016

The importance of consolidatation and report risk management data has meant many more functions getting involved; to spare line managers' sanity they should consolidate their risk assessment efforts. Each entity must determine and examine the management, in some cases, it may include existing tools like access or excel, which are a very small program if there's no budget at all for recording the risk management information system. Although these tools have huge limitations, because they cannot be used to record adequately for most cloned programs, but they are the foundation for some particular operations. Many systems allow public entity to have a comprehensive view of consolidated risk management data. Some of them have many features, while the others don't this help different entities to decide o which of the systems that best suits their needs.

Five Ways to Reduce Stress in the Workplace Nov 25, 2016

Today’s guest Randy Anderson, co-founder of E-Three professional trainers based out of Texas teaches us five ways that you can reduce stress in the workplace. His company provides workplace and life training for companies and individuals. Learn through his experiences how you can find more fulfillment in your workplace environment and personal life. Stress and its Management in our Workplaces Stress is the psychological and physical state that results when the resources of the individual are not sufficient to cope with the demands and pressures of a situation. Thus, stress is more likely in some situations than others and in some individuals than others. Stress can undermine the achievement of goals, both for individuals and for organizations. Situations that are likely to cause stress in our places of work are those that are unpredictable or uncontrollable, uncertain, ambiguous or unfamiliar, or involving conflict, loss or performance expectations. Stress may be caused by time limited events, such as the pressures of examinations or work deadlines, or by ongoing situations, such as family demands, job insecurity etc. Stress could also be caused by work based factors such as long hours, work overload, technology, lack of breaks, and even poor working conditions (for example, space, light, temperature). In summary, things that cause stress at work are usually not bad things and the effects of stress on individuals in workplaces could also produce positive effects as some do best people in stressful situations.

Culture Risks With Joey Sylvester Nov 09, 2016

Risk management should take human and cultural factors into account. There is little guidance beyond the few statements within that standard on how to apply culture, today Joey walks us through ways in which you and your entity will be able to further understand the importance of acknowledging culture within entity and what to do within your risk management department. How does it relate to risk management and how do you apply it? Joey breaks down the definition of organizational culture for better understanding and the ability to apply it to your workplace. Dr. Edgar Schein’s definition of organizational culture “A pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think. and feel in relation to those problems.” This definition explains how culture is formed – a city is founded or a new startup begins. The leader wants things done a certain way in the beginning if it leads to success then overtime that becomes the way of doing things and an unconscious way of doing things. Culture becomes embedded below the surface for a long time.

Why Zero Injuries Is NOT Your Goal With Bill Sims Jr Oct 24, 2016

Our guest on today’s show is the president of the Bill Sims Company for over 40 years they have created positive reinforcement systems helping large and small firms inspire better performance amongst their employees while increasing bottom line profits. Zero Injury Policy Originated Beginning in 1981 as Bill Sims, Jr. was walking through a textile company he noticed signs and posters that read, “Zero Injuries Our Goal” and “Target Zero Injuries” every place he went he would witness how many days since a last record of an injury and so on. The reason most companies and public entities have this policy as a goal is its been around for many many years and there hasn’t been much reason or encouragement to change this goal of no injuries. It wasn’t until the tragedy BP faced years ago known as the Horizon Disaster that Bill started to wonder if the Zero Injury policy wasn’t the right goal for leaders of a company to have. This company was 7 years’ injury free until on that tragic day when 11 people died on an oil rig – were they operating on the absence of accidents or the presence of safety? Having a ZERO INJURY Policy is setting up your workplace environment up for unsafe behaviors. Evidence That Zero Injuries is not the Goal Within your workplace are your practicing and preparing for an injury or fatality? Everyone is always taking shortcuts within companies whether its texting while driving or not following all of the safety procedures. The important thing Bill wants us to realize is that they way a business or entity is functioning is behavior and if you want to change your workplace results than you need to start implementing changes to the behaviors.

Managing Your Medical Providers for Workers’ Compensation Oct 11, 2016

On today’s show we hear from the Director of Risk Management and Employee Benefits for the Atlanta Independent School System, Jeffrey Thomas. What does it mean to Manage your Medical Providers? We may have all heard some of the following terms when in our work place when it comes to managing our employees and staff. MBO – management by objectives MBM – management by memorandum MBE – management by email MBWA – management by wandering around MBLSA – management by the last seminar attended However, today Jeffrey walks through with us how to manage through communication ensuring that you are imparting knowledge and bringing awareness to those you are managing. There needs to be clarity from both the sender and receiver to ensure that the communication has been understood. Strategies for Managing Your Medical Providers Most effective form of communication is direct, honest and face to face with the providers. Its important for the employer to drive the conversations so that the providers understand the specific policies and practices since the vary from employer to employer. Medical Providers Role Be available to the employers, listening in to the questions that you may have so that they are answered and taken care of accurately. Its important if you are a medical provider to remember that the employers you are working with are your customers and they have other options if they are not understood or taken care of correctly. Success is defined by the communication between the employer and medical providers not defined solely by the reduction of your medical expenses.

Bridge the Gap: Working With and Recruiting Different Generations in the Workplace Sep 27, 2016

Today we are discussing with Candy Whirley the ways to Bridge the Gap between baby boomers, X’ers and millennial generations. Learn the differences of what’s important to each group. Listen in to some of the similarities your workplace may have. Be Aware that What Matters most may vary among the generations Baby Boomers – Dedication & Getting the job done – even if it means staying late X – Work, Life, Balance Millennials – Working Smarter, Not Harder Ways to Merge within the Office Candy goes over the most asked questions that one generation will ask one another at her workshops. Finding out that giving feedback to your millennial is very beneficial while also the reality of wanting certain results is not always realistic within companies that have existed a certain way for such a long time period. Understand that the baby boomer generation has changed, they have gone through the technology changes along with the new mindsets that are coming into your workplace. One key thing to remember with each and every one of your employees no matter which generation they may be classified as: Do Not Micromanage. When working with a variety of these generations a few key things to remember are to be patient with some, trust others and offer those staff that wish to have more balance in their everyday life a few working hours at home. Reverse Mentoring Allow your millennials to teach others how to use technology in a different more efficient way, as the workforce continues to evolve and change this can be a good way to bring interaction and respect into the workplace for each generation. As an expert in this field even Candy has seen how different the perspectives within each of these three generations is beginning to change as a generation goes across 20 years and the lines are sometimes blurred when it comes to the younger Baby Boomers and older Millennials as they relate more to the generation beneath or above them rather then the inklings within their own.

Things To Consider When Creating An Accident Review Panel With Juli Tomlin Sep 13, 2016

Juli Tomlin will discuss the things you should consider when developing an accident review panel. As risk manager of the city of Gainesville, Georgia with over 20 years of experience in public and private sector risk management. Learn the importance of an accident review panel, the best individuals to be a part of the panel and the benefits it can provide to your entity or community. An Accident Review Panel Brings Awareness Having an accident review panel within your entity has the ability to bring awareness while providing standard reviews across your departments. Not only does it require your drivers to be held accountable but will also help keep your records in order. In Gainesville, since implementing an accident review panel Juli’s entity has seen a 35% reduction in auto accidents in the first 2 years, the panel has been able to identify trends of when the highest accidents occur through the year and has allowed them to provide resources and safety training before those time periods to avoid future accidents. Attributes for who is included on the panel - Someone who can give credibility (i.e. a department director) - A police officer for investigations, accurate findings and reassurance - A safety community member to tie in the overall safety of the departments - Each individual must be able to be fair, impartial and trusting of confidential information. - An interest in reducing company liability Be sure to consult with your attorney for guidance before organizing an accident review panel whether or not it should be open to the public or a private panel. To avoid any legal issues, it is recommended that you and your team anticipate that in the creation of your policy terms and conditions.

Integrity: Skill Not Will With Stuart Brody Aug 16, 2016

Stu explains that all three terms can be a trap because they are often used interchangeably and don’t provide any clarity. We should be more careful about how we use those words, and think of them as follows: Ethics is a body of regulations, e.g. academic and business, which involves consequences if violated. Morality is a commonly accepted sense of values in society that have to do with right and wrong, but may not always be just. Integrity, on the other hand, involves deeper questioning of those conventionally accepted ideas of right and wrong – it is one’s realm of conduct when “nobody is looking.” Why do you think integrity can be taught? Stu emphasizes that integrity can and must be taught; we must dispel the notion that we’re either born with it or not because the idea that it is innate is dangerous. Everyone thinks they have it, and that keeps us from thinking about how we can be educated to better decision making, which is what integrity is ultimately about. Integrity can be taught the same way management techniques can be taught. How can someone get better at practicing integrity? Most people who think about integrity would say it’s something that you have, but if you change it to the idea that it’s something you practice decision by decision, the whole thing changes. We start to see it as something you can keep practicing (even if you blow it sometimes) and keep getting better. Integrity consists largely of discerning what you owe somebody else and fulfilling those duties. Keep in mind that loyalty frequently competes with truthfulness as a duty, and we must find a way to fulfill both.

Water Quality Risk Assessment and Management Aug 02, 2016

Causes of the Flint Water Crisis In 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan, took a cost-saving measure by switching its water supply from the city of Detroit—which drew from Lake Huron—to Flint River. During this change, Flint water officials did not take the required steps to manage the water chemistry of Flint River, which has more corrosive water than Lake Huron. The untreated corrosion caused the aging pipes in Flint homes to leak lead into the tap water, exposing residents to a high level of lead over time. This likely would not have happened if the water supply was properly treated with an anti-corrosion agent. In October, 2015, the city of Flint went back to using water from Detroit, but there was an ongoing concern that home pipes were still leaking lead into the tap water.

Strengthen Your Fleet Risk Management Program Jul 18, 2016

Matt McDonough answers questions that will help strengthen your fleet risk management program. What is the biggest misconception when it comes to fleet safety programs? Both employers and employees tend to think of them as a way to protect their vehicles, but that’s just one part of the equation. Auto accident scenarios in which there is damage to more than one auto and injuries to multiple people are not uncommon. And accidents that cause injuries to employees and civilians can cause a public relations hit, as well. Why should employees focus on fleet safety in particular? Loss runs including slips and falls, struck-by incidents, and scrapes and sprains usually outnumber automobile incidents. But motor vehicle incidents tend to show up more on the severity side of losses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that roadway incidents were the number-one cause of workplace fatalities in 2013. In fact, roadway incidents have been the number-one cause of workplace fatality since 1992, when the BLS started keeping track of this data.

Prima's ERM Training Overview Podcast Jul 08, 2016

Prima's ERM Training Overview Podcast by Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)

What You Need To Know About The Zika Virus Jul 05, 2016

What is the Zika virus? A disease that is primarily spread to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species of mosquito. Zika virus was first discovered back in 1947, and only 12 human cases of the infection were recorded over the next 40 years. But since 2007, outbreaks have been recorded in the tropical forests of Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and now in South and Central America and the Caribbean. How is Zika virus transmitted and what are the symptoms? It can be transmitted from human to human, whish is not unusual among mosquito-borne illnesses, e.g. malaria. Like malaria, Zika can be transmitted from an infected mother to her unborn fetus and through blood transfusions. Unlike malaria, Zika can also be transmitted through unprotected sexual relations. Common symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes, and last for several days to a week. Symptoms for 80 percent of those infected are minor. However, if a fetus is exposed at any time during pregnancy, it may develop a brain disorder called microcephaly, which results in an abnormally small brain. What is the current status of Zika virus in the U.S.? No cases have yet been recorded in U.S. through mosquito bites. However, travel to affected areas has resulted in 273 cases. Six cases resulted from personal relationships, 19 involved pregnancies, and there has been at least one case of microcephaly in the U.S. Mosquitoes carrying the disease will likely migrate to U.S. by this summer, with southern and mid-Atlantic states most at risk. How can public entities minimize risk? Communicate with constituencies and spread word in communities regarding potential ramifications. Alert employees to potential risks and how to protect themselves through wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants and the use of mosquito netting. Offer advice about the different types of insect repellants and how to use them properly. Eliminate standing water and be prepared to ramp up mosquito repellant programs.

The Flint Water Crisis: Risk Communication Jun 22, 2016

The roots of the Flint water crisis can be traced all the way back to early 2013, when the city council approved a plan to switch the city’s water supply from Detroit to a system still under construction in order to save money. This meant finding an interim water supply while the system was being completed, so they put the city’s water plant back into operation as a stop-gap. The city switched to Flint river water on April 25, 2014 and issued statement that the water was safe to drink. However, over the next several months, three separate advisories were issued – one for e coli, one for coliform bacteria and one for trihalomethane, a byproduct of disinfectants. State and federal agencies started looking into the issues, but they weren’t always working together toward same goal, and throughout the months they spent investigating, the water remained in the same condition. Then in September 2015, an independent study indicated corrosiveness was causing lead to leach into citizens’ water. The city issued a lead advisory and gave recommendations for safe use, but also maintained that the water was safe according to federal standards. A public health emergency was declared a week later. Now it’s national news and most people are aware of what’s been going on in Flint over the last several months.

Learn To Lead At PRIMA Institute 2016 with Marilyn Rivers May 31, 2016

What is Prima Institute? Prima Institute (PI) offers risk management professionals the opportunity to learn from each other about public risk management, communication and governance, to gain comfort from other people experiencing “public risk drama,” and to have fun. The PI conference brings together everyone from entry-level to seasoned risk managers to interact with leading experts in the field. Emphasis is placed on collaborative learning, building relationships and learning about innovative strategies. It also provides an experience of learning that people can take home with them so they know how to best to deal with a situation on their own terms.

Use of Electrical Weapons in Law Enforcement May 23, 2016

Our guest today is Dr. Mark Kroll, an adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Minnesota and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Dr. Kroll retired from his role as Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of St. Jude’s to focus on teaching, and his research specialty is the effects of electricity on the human body. He is often referred to as the most prolific inventor of medical devices in the world.

Infrastructure Risk Management with Nigel Wilson May 09, 2016

Today we’re talking to Nigel Wilson about the challenges faced by public sector risk managers. Nigel discusses how to develop and maintain a property profile that accurately reflects the risk profile, as well as how to break down the complex process of reviewing property portfolio data into manageable pieces.

Managing the Risks of the Zika Virus by Melanie Bennett Apr 26, 2016

Our guest on the latest episode of PRIMA Podcasts is Melanie Bennett from United Educators. Melanie shares some of the major concerns associated with the current Zika virus outbreak, particularly as it relates to learning institutions. Melanie explains that because the Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, it is spreading very quickly between countries and continents, and there is currently no vaccine. Fortunately, the symptoms are generally mild (red eyes, fever, joint pain and rash) and the virus only stays in the bloodstream for about a week. However, the major concern is that both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have identified a link between Zika and microcephaly, which causes very serious birth defects. Specific Concerns For Educational Institutions K-12 and higher education institutions should be particularly concerned about Zika because of their study abroad programs. The CDC has issued level-two travel alerts for countries with an outbreak, meaning that pregnant women should consider cancelling travel plans to those locations, and everyone else should take preventative measures. United Educators suggests that schools consider cancelling or postponing trips abroad for several reasons: The virus spreads very easily; Preventive instructions may be difficult for younger travelers to adhere to; Younger people may not be aware that they are pregnant; and Sexual transmission of the disease is more of a concern on campuses. If an institution chooses to offer students waiver forms to participate in a program abroad, United Educators recommends that the form be specific to the activity and the associated risks. It should include language pertaining to: acknowledgement that the traveler received information about the Zika virus from a trusted health organization such as the CDC; detailed information about locations or activities that could put him/her at risk; a list of any known health conditions associated with Zika; and acknowledgment that the traveler understands and is assuming all risks. It is recommended that institutions consult with their legal counsel when drafting waivers. Zika Transmission and Prevention On Campus The Zika virus is currently in the U.S. So far, all the cases that have been reported, were contracted through international travel. The virus may be transmitted from person to person through sexual contact, or from person to mosquito to person through mosquito bites. The CDC recommends the following preventative measures for school campuses, especially those in mosquito-prone locations: Remove standing water; Repair cracked septic tanks and pipes; Keep mosquitoes out of buildings by closing doors and windows, and using netting and screens; and Individuals are advised to apply insect repellant, use condoms when having sex, and contact a doctor if they experience Zika symptoms. Useful Zika Virus Resources: Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) World Health Organization (WHO) Center For Infectious Disease Research and Policy

Preventing Sexual Abuse in Organizations by Angelique Dale from Praesidium Apr 18, 2016

In this episode of PRIMA Podcasts, Angelique Dale shares some methods that may be employed by organizations in order to manage the risk of sexual abuse. Angelique indicates that changes in how organizations approach and deal with these risks have not been as radical as one would hope, despite the fact that incidents of this nature are constantly being reported by the media. Many organizations still rely solely on criminal background checks, which is problematic because only 40% of offenders actually have a criminal background. This may be attributed to the fact that very few offenders get caught.

Workplace Violence and Active Shooter Prevention with Chris Grollnek Apr 06, 2016

On this episode of PRIMA's Risk Management Podcast series, Chris Grollnek provides vital information that can be used in the unlikely event of a workplace violence or an active shooter situation. Chris is an award-winning active shooter and domestic terrorism prevention expert. He advises the highest levels of government and corporate executives through his workplace violence coalition known as the Safe2Safest Strategic Alliance.

How To Implement a Successful Enterprise Risk Management Program with Shannon Gunderman Mar 22, 2016

Our guest for this episode of PRIMA's Risk Management Podcast is Shannon Gunderman. Shannon is the administrative services director of Yuma County, Arizona where he is responsible for administrating the county’s property, liability, unemployment and workers' compensation programs. He also serves as the county’s enterprise risk management project manager. Shannon explains that enterprise risk management (ERM) is a completely new way of thinking about risk. ERM approaches risk as the uncertainty that affects the achievement of an entity’s goals, as well as a part of the decision-making process across an organization. Shannon emphasizes that risk doesn’t appear in silos; it can affect multiple parts of an organization. Therefore, the goal of enterprise risk management is to address and treat risk throughout the organization at all levels. In essence, with ERM, everyone in the organization is a risk manager.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected