What happens when leaders from the largest third party administrators sit down for a roundtable?
Industry leaders get together at the 71st Annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference to discuss forecasts and predictions for workers’ compensation and the insurance industry overall.
TPA leaders at the 71st Annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference in Orlando, Florida, on August 23 spoke collaboratively about the most pressing issues facing the workers’ compensation industry: how to identify the needs of the future? This made for both a robust and relevant dialogue.
Sitting for the roundtable discussion were: President and CEO David North of Sedgwick, Inc.; Deborah Michel, Executive Vice President of Major Accounts for Liberty Mutual and President of Helmsman Management Services, LLC; and, President and CEO Scott Hudson of Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc. Their forward-thinking discussion was both instructive and eye-opening, despite being competitors in the industry.
In the future, how can claim processing be streamlined to make the process more effective and less intimidating to injured workers, while also helping TPAs to more efficiently and economically process claims? In what way will we as an industry change in the next 10 years with the ever-expanding technological advancements encouraging paperless processing, remote versus on-site handling, increased responsiveness to clients and more efficient information gathering for claims? What new innovations must industry leaders predict and prepare for considering a future that is not yet defined?
A common theme among these CEOs was the continuing desire to attract the best and the brightest claims professionals in order to address the increasingly complex and ever-shifting dynamic of the workers’ compensation field. In addition, staying up-to-date or serving as forerunners for new innovations in technology appear to be recognized directives for industry leaders from our perspective.
What does this mean for current claims examiners, those who are thinking about joining the field or employers that rely on TPAs to handle their claims? With industry leaders sharing an open dialogue and apparent consensus on where the priorities of the future stand, we anticipate better opportunities for current industry employees and new inductees to the field. We also anticipate a more stream-lined process for employer customers. Lessons learned from the top— it is never too early to start thinking about the future, and staying ahead requires thinking with creativity and boldness.
Reinisch Wilson Weier PC is dedicated to responding to client needs by utilizing our thorough grasp of the law and its history, as well as responding innovatively to the undeniably changing field.
Previously:
Part 1: “Tackle work like it’s the next big football game.”
Coach Steve Spurrier draws parallels between football and the insurance industry at the 71st Annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference.
Part 2: “Live knee meniscectomy – stop reading if you’re the queasy type.”
Surgeons tackle a knee meniscectomy in front of a live audience at the 71st Annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference.