700 Work Comp Leaders Draw Roadmap for Claims
November 4, 2015 — Chicago, IL — Some 5,000 insurer, TPA, and employer-based professionals fill claims leadership positions in workers’ compensation operations nationwide. They think as much about the future as they do day-to-day operations. To date, approximately 700 of these leaders have shared their insights through quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews conducted by the Workers’ Compensation Benchmarking Study in 2013, 2014, and now 2015.
This year, the study’s new direction – conducting focus group research – drew upon the perspectives of 40 industry executives as they related the prior years’ 662 survey responses to their strategic visions for future advancement. The resulting Insights Report synthesizes the past three years’ research into an incisive, “solutions roadmap” for claims leadership going forward.
Rising Medical Solutions’ decision to take a qualitative approach to the 2015 study was a collaborative decision made with the study’s expert Advisory Council, and based on resounding feedback from claims professionals who asked exactly how to overcome the widely-faced challenges identified in the 2013 and 2014 studies.
“We’ve been eager to take this next step for some time,” says Rising CEO Jason Beans. “Before we even published the first study, leaders were already approaching us about doing more than just quantifying operational issues – they were eager to take action. After getting two years of data under our belt, we had a good baseline for where the industry was at so the 2015 participants could appropriately recommend priorities and strategies.”
Many of the priorities and strategies uncovered through the study’s latest efforts involve a somewhat uncompromising, and surprisingly aligned vision from participants – a vision where process improvement and compliance is no longer the dominant force, but where claims organizations are creators of value through successful outcomes management.
“The level of consensus from executives across the industry was unanticipated yet promising,” says principal study researcher, Denise Zoe Algire, Director, Managed Care & Disability, Albertsons Safeway, Inc. “Their collective experiences and insights have yielded the greatest impact opportunities and most potent strategies that payers may consider over the next two to three years.”
Like prior Reports, the new 2015 Study Report is available to all without cost or obligation as a contribution to the workers’ compensation community. It may be requested from Rising Medical Solutions here.
About the Workers’ Compensation Benchmarking Study
The Workers’ Compensation Benchmarking Study is a national research program examining the complex forces that impact claims management in workers’ compensation today. The study’s mission is to advance claims management in the industry by providing both quantitative and qualitative research. Through surveys and interviews with claims leaders nationwide, the program generates actionable data for claims organizations to evaluate priorities, challenges, and strategies amongst their peers. Conceived and directed by Rising Medical Solutions, the ongoing program is a collaboration of industry executives representing diverse organizational perspectives, including the Study’s Principal Researcher and Advisory Council:
- Gale Vogler | Director, Managed Care | Acuity Insurance
- Denise Zoe Algire | Director, Managed Care & Disability | Albertsons Safeway, Inc.
- Raymond Jacobsen | Senior Managing Director | AON Benfield
- Leann Farlander | Cost Containment Director | Athens Administrators
- Fred Boothe | Vice President of Claims Services | BrickStreet Insurance
- Rich Cangiolosi | Vice President, Western Region | Cannon Cochran Management Svcs., Inc.(CCMSI)
- Cathy Vines | Director, Healthcare Cost Containment Strategy | CopperPoint Mutual Insurance
- James Masingill | Vice President, Claim Operations | Markel FirstComp Insurance
- Barbara Spain | Senior Counsel, Workforce Management Practice Group | McDonald’s Corporation
- Tom Stark | Technical Director, Workers’ Compensation | Nationwide Insurance
- Tom McCauley | Owner & Consultant | Networks by Design
- David Price | Vice President, Risk Management | POMCO Group
- Laura Crowe | Risk Management Director | Presbyterian Healthcare Services
- Mark Walls | Vice President, Communications & Strategic Analysis | Safety National
- John Smolk | Principal Manager, Workers’ Compensation | Southern California Edison
- Joe McLaughlin | Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing | TRISTAR Insurance Group
- Kyle Cato | Workers’ Compensation & Safety Manager | Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
- Tim Mondon | Senior Vice President, Bill Review | Zenith Insurance
- Kelly Kuri | Team Manager, Workers’ Compensation | Zurich North America
- Peter McCarron | Senior Vice President, Workers’ Compensation Claims | Zurich North America
About Rising Medical Solutions
Rising Medical Solutions is a national medical-financial solutions firm that provides medical cost containment and medical care management services to the workers’ compensation, auto, liability, and group health markets.