WCRI 2022 Conference Afternoon Day 1 – No Masks – Great Speakers

The pandemic caused the most significant disruption to workplaces in generations. It forced employers and employees to quickly pivot and change. Join our distinguished and diverse panel as they discuss the future of the workplace after COVID-19 while addressing the following questions:

• How have federal, state, and local mandates and requirements affected the workplace? What is the long-term view in terms of vaccine requirements as it relates to employment?
  • Dan Allen – made construction much more complicated
  • Denise Algire – complied with state rules  – Long COVID – complex claims handling required
  • Dr. Ross – over 200 symptoms with long COVID, more science to come out on long COVID
• How will organizations manage the different comfort levels employees have in returning to the workspace with others? What are the implications of increased work from home as many companies contemplate permanently converting to “hybrid” work?
  • Dan Allen – no work from home, all workers worked as a team as construction was always on-the-job essential workers
  • Denise Algire – grocery workers were deemed essential workers, a large number of people working from home, getting feedback from employees, return to work coordination for balance
  • Dr. Ross – open and honest communications to address concerns with the employees
• How did the pandemic impact workers who were injured on the job? What happened to claims composition, timely delivery of medical services, and types of treatment received?
  • Dr. Ross – shortage of skilled workers, increased risk of injury, and severity of the injury
  • Dan Allen – right to work states created a lack of training, the workforce does not have accredited program,  sharply increased death rate among construction employees, aging workforce, apprenticeship program needed on the federal level
  • Denise Algire – labor shortage existed before COVID, do not overwork the employees that you have in place, risk assessment of the jobs, safety processes in place to prevent injuries, look at automation
• Work from home injuries
  • Denise Algire – heightened attention to work, burned out, risk management has been “on” for two years, mental health treatment availability, use technology to create time off the job for at least a few minutes, remote ergonomic assessment of home offices
  • Dr. Ross – ergonomic-based injuries, use employee assistance programs
• Claims composition during the pandemic
  • Dr. Ross – medical care for WC injuries has been delivered, telemedicine ramped up early, very few vaccination claims, vaccines reduced long COVID
• Mental health during COVID
  • Dan Allen – COVID will come out with a positive, suicide rate increased sharply during COVID pandemic, pre-work exercises, use of opiates had some effect
  • Denise Algire – civility and compassion at start of the pandemic, service-industry employees now see more anger from the general public,  employees dealing with more stress
• Safety precautions post- COVID
  • Dan Allen – COVID created new careers in construction
  • Dr. Ross – do not be a hero and go into the office sick
  • Denise Algire – intense focus on safety beyond COVID

Questions –

Does COVID cause any construction labor fraud? –  yes, unskilled workers hired by contractors, disposable workers, difficult to contain

Positive Effects?  Pushed telehealth, claims adjusters had to very quickly become contact tracers

Virtual training?  Videos for medical training, emphasize and encourage collaboration, AI has been great for tutoring construction workers, increasing diversity among construction workers

Impact of Drug Formularies in Various States

Drug formularies are one of the tools policymakers are increasingly using to regulate pharmaceutical utilization and costs in workers’ compensation. Formularies are lists of covered drugs with rules on how the drugs may be accessed and under what conditions. Some stakeholders tout the benefits of their respective formularies, which ensure pharmaceutical utilization is compliant with evidence-based guidelines. Others are concerned about whether formularies provide a cost-only solution and whether they change drug utilization patterns to benefit injured workers. Join us for this session as we share WCRI’s latest research on the impact of drug formularies in several states, including Arkansas, California, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, and Tennessee. The following are the questions this session will answer:

• How do formularies differ, and what has been their impact on costs and prescribing?
• If prior approval is required for certain drugs, how frequently are those drugs prescribed?
• Do drug formularies result in the substitution of drugs that don’t require prior approval for similar drugs that do require prior approval?