The 71^st Annual Workers’ Compensation Education Conference and the 28^th Annual Safety & Health Conference took place last month in Orlando, Florida. Paradigm Outcomes participated enthusiastically among a number of thought leadership organizations to discuss best practices and new ideas in workers’ compensation.

The annual WCI conference provides a unique opportunity each year for workers’ compensation professionals to discuss emerging trends and policy changes. This year, the conference included educational sessions on the Social Security Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, the Jones Act, the Defense Base Act, the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and the SMART Act, with specific emphasis on each policy’s effect on the workers’ compensation industry.

The conference encouraged conversation onsite and online, and Conference Chronicles and Property Casualty 360 shared some thoughtful summaries from the event:

Conference Chronicles shared news from several sessions, including:

• Creating an Advocacy-Based Claims Model: Advocacy-based claims models continue to gain momentum as a best practice in the workers’ compensation industry. In a session led by a panel of executives from a variety of organizations, the group agreed that the outcomes resulting from an increase in communication have been encouraging. Paradigm Outcomes is an enthusiastic advocate for this methodology and continues to be optimistic about the adoption of this practice across the industry.

• Opioid Drug Therapy: Relieving Pain but Increasing the Duration of Disability: Opioid drug therapy continues to be a hot topic of conversation in the workers’ compensation industry. Nat Levine, consultant, and Marcos Iglesias, MD, vice president and national medical director at The Hartford Fire Insurance Company, discussed the adverse effects and challenges of pain treatment with opioids and the impact on an injured worker’s recovery. Paradigm Outcomes’ Dr. Moskowitz shared a similar position last year on the unique challenges of opioid maintenance among injured workers.

• State of the Workers’ Compensation Market: The keynote session, led by Mark Walls, vice president of communications and strategic analysis for Safety National, and Kimberly George, senior vice president of corporate development, M&A and healthcare at Sedgwick, collaboratively summarized the state of the market, the viability of the workers’ compensation industry, the impact the upcoming election may have on policy changes, and the influence analytics will have on forecasting and informed decision-making.

Property Casualty 360 shared an article and photos:

• Seeing marijuana through the haze of myths: “As more states legalize the drug, employers and insurers face new challenges.” Management of medicinal marijuana as a treatment option was a topic of discussion at one of the sessions this year led by Donald Bucklin, MD, medical review officer for U.S. Healthworks. This topic will continue to drive conversation across the industry as policies incrementally incorporate non-traditional treatment options into care plans.

• Scenes from the first day of WCEC 2016: A collection of conference photos.

• Scenes from the second day at WCEC 2016: A collection of conference photos.

WCI is passionate about encouraging conversation across geographic boundaries that furthers progress in the workers’ compensation industry. This national conference provides a unique opportunity to facilitate that conversation. Paradigm Outcomes is committed to continuing the conversation about comprehensive care management, catastrophic injury outcomes and complex pain conditions. To join the conversation, please connect with Paradigm Outcomes on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, or visit our website.