Editor's Note: The 68th annual Workers' Compensation Educational Conference (WCEC) will be held Aug. 18-21 at the Orlando World Center Marriott. Presented by the Workers' Compensation Institute, the WCEC is the largest gathering of its kind in the nation and offers discipline-specific programs and break-out sessions from hundreds of national speakers, as well as CEU opportunities. During the conference on Aug. 19, NU Executive Managing Editor Shawn Moynihan will present the PC360/NU Awards for Excellence in Workers' Comp Risk Management.

One of our highest-level programs over the last several years has been the National Workers' Compensation Review. The program is originated and moderated by the three co-chairs: Bill Pipkin, George Kagan and Jim Anderson. The three of them have compiled a program that would be the envy of every workers' compensation seminar in the country and we present this program as part of our Workers' Compensation Educational Conference.

The National Workers' Compensation Review is a two-day seminar on Aug. 19 and 20. This course highlights practical strategies for closing claims at reduced costs and is presented by those who do just that. Our speakers comprise the most accomplished array we have ever assembled: their names or affiliations are household words and they are here solely to bring you into the loop on topics and trends you may not have even heard of yet but need to. Pipkin, Kagan or Anderson moderate all of the panels.

Social Media is an incredibly important tool in our society now. The National Workers' Compensation Review starts out on Monday with a program called “Around the Country and Around the Block: The Ultimate Bloggers' Perspectives on Hot Topics and Trends.” Each panelist authors a workers' compensation blog that monitors daily developments in the world of workers' compensation and how these developments might impact employers, payers, providers, vendors and lawyers. The panel consists of Mark Walls from Marsh, Bob Wilson from WorkersCompensation.com and David DePaolo from WorkCompCentral. WCI Online Communications Officer Joan Collier will moderate. Among other things, the panel will talk about Obamacare and its anticipated effects on business and insurance.

Next, we switch to medicine with a panel called “Determining Work-Relatedness—or Injury: Emphasis on Chronic Pain” with two of our all-time favorites, Drs. Bob Barth and Chris Bringham. These two experts will focus on what is commonly called evidence-based medicine and will discuss claims that are work related but are not credible because they are not based upon scientifically recognized fact. They will help attendees gain critical insight into the two main inquires for work-relatedness: the health science standards governing all inquiries and the scientific knowledge base of relevance to chronic pain claims. This high-caliber presentation will also focus on predominant non-work related risk factors underpinning the many chronic pain claims: financial gain, personality disorders and inappropriate treatment, including narcotics.

Several states now have what are called “opt-out” alternatives to workers' compensation and that is what the National Workers' Compensation Review turns its attention to next in a program called “Workers' Compensation Alternatives: Opt-Out, Both Planned and Unplanned.” Sandra Carson from Sysco Corporation, Peter Rousmaniere with Risk & Insurance magazine and Dallas attorney Jerry Fazio will educate us on the number of large companies that are now statutorily able to opt out of the standard workers' compensation scheme and allow disputes over employee injury claims to be decided under a common law negligence theory. You will hear from these renowned national experts about the implementation of the non-subscriber program and its coordination of claims handling, allowing you to benefit directly form their pioneering efforts and lessons being learned.

The first day ends with a very creative ethics program called “Tapping Biblical and Other Spiritual Principles.” The panel consists of Andy Condrey from the Gray Insurance Co., Dr. Chris Brigham and Pipkin. This program demonstrates how biblical and other spiritual principals provide a basis for ethical claims handling.

The Tuesday program starts out with a “Medical Cost Containment” panel featuring Kimberly George from Sedgwick, Misty Hambright from American Airlines, Bernyce Peplowski from U.S. Healthworks Medical Group and Mike Webb, regional medical director for Liberty Mutual. These medically oriented panelists will initiate a discussion on how to deliver medical treatment to an injured employee that meets both the care and caliber necessary to meet the employer's ethical and legal obligations to the employee while also meeting the legitimate needs of the employer for cost effectiveness. With a panel like this, the program is sure to meet or exceed its mark.

Finishing up the morning is a “Medicare Update” presented by Mark Popolizio of Crowe Paradis, who will walk the audience through the quickly changing Section 111 reporting, conditional payments and MSAs generally. It is hard to stay ahead of the curve with respect to Medicare, but Popolizio will help put you there.

Then, on Tuesday afternoon are two one-hour presentations on psycho-social issues. The first is called “Impact of Psycho-Social Issues on Hiring, Disability and Return to Work.” In today's world, psycho-social issues are critical for an employer to understand and appreciate. The panel consists of Gerlyn Datz, a clinical psychologist, Desiree Tolbert from Sedgwick, Dave Smith from Family Dollar Stores and Bob Steggert from Marriott International. They will act as your guides in this critical and evolving area. Research shows that psycho-social and mental health issues frequently increase workers' compensation exposure and medical costs and serve to prolong disability, with poorer outcomes overall. Our panelists will examine the hidden costs of poor hiring and how to mitigate the effects of psycho-social issues.

The second panel on psycho-social issues is called “The Ultimate Psycho-Social Issue: Workers' Compensation in the Time of Violence” and could not be more topical, especially in light of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. When violent tragedy occurs in the workplace, employers must be prepared to deal with its severe and sudden consequences. Our panel of William Wiatrowski, the associate commissioner for compensation and working conditions with the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, Steve Tipton, an attorney from Austin, Texas, and Melissa Lin Jones, an administrative appeals judge with the Department of Employment Services Compensation Review Board, will provide you with a deeper insight into the character and frequency of instances of workplace violence and what an employer should do when those instances occur. Additionally, many of these issues that involve violence may result in extra-statutory exposure/breach of immunity for the employer. This is a complicated area, but one that must be studied by those who are serious about workers' compensation.

The day ends with a fast-paced finale called “Barrister Dunk Tank: Identifying the Annoying Counterproductive and Cost Enhancing Habits of Our Lawyers, but (Despite Temptation) Don't Leave Them Under Too Long!” Kagan leads this panel of heavy hitters through a session designed to help field the best possible team confronting open litigated claims, and how best to close them expeditiously from informed positions of strength. The panel consists of Maria Leggett from McDonalds, Holbrook Smith from Travelers and Melissa Lin Jones.

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National Workers&rsquo; Compensation Review: A WCEC Session Preview

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