Insights
The Sounding Board
Ideas and inspirations for the managed care industry
Introducing Networks 2.0: Part One
April 27, 2020
Most discussions about the state of U.S. health care quickly lead to a simple but grim diagnosis: The system is broken. The evidence abounds and it’s compelling. The U.S. spends more per capita than any other country yet often produces only lackluster outcomes. Access to care can be poor. Even average life expectancy, which notched steady gains for decades, has ticked lower in recent years.
Stop by ‘Any Time’ Medical Care
April 20, 2020
As her power of attorney for medical care, Mom requested I accompany her to her doctor’s visit so that I could hear details about her intended treatment plan. Mom was 74 years old with a lot of medical conditions that required constant monitoring. I anticipated there would be a lot of coordination between the multiple providers. When Mom came dressed stunningly in full regalia with necklace, earrings, perfume, and perfectly quaffed hair, I suspected this wasn’t going to be an average doctor’s visit.
Examining Social Determinants of Health
April 13, 2020
In the last five years terms such as advocacy, engagement, coaching, and even “whole-person approach” have been much talked about within workers’ compensation — for good reason.
Tips from Coventry Employees for Working from Home
April 6, 2020
In March, many people found themselves suddenly thrust into the weird and wonderful world of working from home (WFH). We thought we’d take a break from our usual format of offering workers’ comp industry trends and insights to share some tips on working from home.
As robots come to work, our tasks will include safety and quality
March 30, 2020
Robots are coming for your job. That’s the thrust of much of the discussion around automation and work. While that might one day prove true for many of us, the more immediate consideration is that robots are coming to your job. This means as employers weave more automation into workplaces, they will need to further consider how workers and semi-autonomous machines interact.
Why use antidepressants to treat pain?
March 23, 2020
Why use antidepressants to treat pain? The nation’s focus on the ongoing opioid epidemic and stricter guidelines on opioid prescribing has led to an increased utilization of non-opioid pain treatments in workers’ compensation. In a previous blog post, we looked at the use of anticonvulsants to treat pain because of their ability to create effective pain relief without the cravings, tolerance, or addiction issues that are typically associated with narcotics. Another therapeutic class commonly used to treat chronic pain is antidepressants, which may even be prescribed when depression is not a diagnosed condition for the injured worker.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Workers’ Comp
March 16, 2020
PTSD typically starts with exposure to a critical incident. In order to meet the definition of PTSD, symptoms must last 30 days or more and disrupts normal life pursuits. It results from violation of expectations, deeply held beliefs, core beliefs such as belief in a just and fair world, need to trust others, self-esteem-self efficacy, and need for predictable and safe world.
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