Public Risk Management

PRIMA community participants, Amy Larson and Kurtz Braatz, explain why PRIMA Institute is a one of a kind learning opportunity for risk management professionals at every level. PRIMA Institute 2021 is a five day education program that brings top notch professionals together and creates opportunities for networking, sharing ideas, gaining industry expertise and having support throughout the year th...

Chris Mandel, Founder, President and Managing Consultant for Excellence in Risk Management, LLC, discusses how workers’ compensation will look in ten years, through the lens of Dr. Richard Victor’s recently published book, “Scenarios for the 2030s: Threats and Opportunities for Workers' Compensation Systems”. There are four main forces causing the change: demographic forces, such as age of workfor...

Margaret Pedona, the Risk Manager for Coconino County, Arizona discusses how to create a cyber systems incident response team. She explains how cyber crimes have become the most imminent and costly risks that public entity operations face and why a response team is essential for risk management and will save an organization precious time and efficiency to a cyber event. Going into further detail o...

Workers' Compensation Networks with Catherine Benavidez This week we’re joined by Catherine Benavidez, President/CEO at Injury Management Organization. Networks did not exist in Texas, prior to 2005. She shares how their healthcare network was approved in 2006, activated in 2009 and how they’ve significantly decreased medical cost averages as well as days of work lost. Organically growing their ne...

ERM Implementation In Response To COVID - 19 This week we have Sean Catanese explaining Enterprise Risk Management in response to COVID-19. Sean is the ERM Services Program Manager in King County, Washington. His office handles: tort claims filed against the County, recovering matters of responsible third parties, complex public records, requests, insurance and contracts. Prior to the pandemic, th...

Mental Health of School Personnel Amidst a Pandemic/COVID-19 Cherri Lindquist, Clinical Nurse Manager at Company Nurse and Paula Allen, Global Leader, Research and Total Wellbeing and SVP at Morneau Shepell, describe the unique experience of School Personnel and how the repercussions of the pandemic have impacted their professional and personal lives. School Personnel face a multi-faceted situatio...

Workers’ Compensation Technology Advancements This week we’re joined by William Zachry, he explains how technological advancements are impacting workers’ compensation and risk management. Appointed as a senior fellow of the Sedgwick Institute in 2017, he’s widely known throughout the risk management industry for his achievements within workers’ compensation reform. Additionally, William serves on...

This week we’re joined by Kaylee Sorenson; to share the lessons learned from COVID-19 on K-12 Education. Kaylee is an Emergency Management Consultant at Ashton Tiffany LLC. This discussion includes the initial challenges of the pandemic; such as transitioning learning to online, supply chain strain, community partnerships and pressure; the shift of priorities after handling the initial obstacles a...

This week we have Karen Caterino, Public Entity Education Center of Excellence Leader-West, for Willis Towers Watson and Mark Pew, SVP of Product Development and Marketing for Preferred Medical, explaining how to navigate the professional generation gap. Karen and Mark share the cause for the talent gap, and the risks and information loss as a product of baby boomers’ retirement. They also provide...

This week our speaker, James Curbeam, CPCU, ARM, AIC, is the director of risk management for the Las Vegas Valley Water District. He holds a B.S. in finance from Creighton University and an executive MBA from the University of Nebraska Omaha. James shares how to make greater progress as a society and individually for diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Witnessing firsthand the lack o...

Ergonomics And Working From Home with Lisa Orr For this week’s episode, Lisa Orr, certified professional ergonomist and Human Factors Professional at Sedgwick CMS, provides a wide range of solutions for working from home. She explains specific tactics in achieving efficiency within this new normal, such as: Dedicating a specific space What to do with limited space and funds Minimizing distractions...

This week we’re joined by Mark Morgan, President of Sherrill Morgan. He explains in-detail Pharmacy Costs - why they cost what they do and how Pharmacy Programs work today. There is a space between the Average Wholesale Price (AWP) and the Maximum Allowable Cost. This gap allows for arbitrary costs to be determined by a Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM). Mark shares how to address or avert the PBM si...

For this week’s episode, Kristen Smolek and Will Portello discuss social inflation, emerging tactics and best practices for public agency liability. Kristen is the Vice President of Pooling at Sedgwick and Will is the director of litigation claims at Sedgwick. They share the six main factors that contribute to social inflation, and further expand on the impact of public distrust and negative publi...

Sy Everett and the title is The Impact of COVID-19 on Litigation and Risk Management. This week we have Sy Everett, III, a Founding Partner of Everett Doery, LLP, discussing the impact of COVID-19 on litigation and risk management. Sy shares the successes of adaptability, effective communication although remote and how technological advancements have aided in replacing former risk management strat...

Josephine Copeland, VP of Managed Care Services at PMA Companies, describes how Case Management has changed its model and how it impacts public entities, as well as how to ensure your taking full advantage of the new resources available. The new face of case management incorporates technology to provide a holistic approach to the person; subsequently encouraging more proactive, resolution driven c...

How Health Management Programs Impact Workers’ Compensation This week we have Dr. Kimberly Gaston, Clinical Field Service Director at the Insurance Program Managers Group, explaining how health management programs impact workers’ compensation. IPMG is a third party administrator that works towards diminishing the number of workers' compensation claims, the duration of the claims as well as the cla...

This week we have Dr. Teresa Bartlett, Senior Medical Officer at Sedgwick, discussing how to manage infectious disease risks, specifically elaborating on COVID-19. It’s imperative to understand how to manage the ongoing risks and consequences of the crisis at hand, understanding new information about how the virus is spread, comparing the efficacy of precautions and personal protective equipment a...

This week we have Amanda Franklin, Director of Risk Management at Wheaton College, explaining Public-Private Partnerships, and how to protect public entities. Public Private Partnerships differ greatly depending on the project - some examples can include: parks, prisons, charter schools, toll roads, university housing developments and hotels. The increase in popularity for Public Private Partnersh...

On this episode, Mark Nestor, the President of Independent Consulting and Risk Management Services, will discuss Audit vs Performance Review, Reviews vs Benchmarking. Overview - the differences between an audit, performance review and a benchmarking study: Audits are an analysis under prescribed standards, normally undertaken by a qualified independent firm. They're looking to follow national or s...

OSHA is overseen by the Department of Labor. Their mission is to assure safe and healthful working conditions for all working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and by providing training outreach, education and assistance. As a company it's important that you understand how to comply with OSHA standards, by understanding what they mean and who has the authority to implement for your...

Stop Loss Strategies

Navigating Class Action Lawsuits From a legal standpoint, it's valuable to understand what qualifies a class action lawsuit from traditional lawsuits. Class action lawsuits have a lot of requirements, procedural requirements, a small number of suits actually become real class action suits. For your organization, the difference in cost of a traditional lawsuit to a class action lawsuit can be thous...

The Complexities Of A Post - Opioid Climate

PRIMA Institute 2020 PRIMA Institute is a five-day intensive educational program that is aimed primarily at improving strategies and techniques in the public risk management sector. The program is developed for risk managers, corporate partners and other professionals who seek a more thorough and specialized approach to risk management. Not only are the fundamentals covered, but emerging issues an...

Medical Treatment And Costs Associated With COVID - 19