2024 WCRI Annual Conference March 5 – 6, 2024 Boston, MA
One of the yearly no-to-miss conferences happens in early March in Beantown. The 2024 WCRI Annual Conference will provide essential studies and statistics, as it does every year. I have written on a few subjects WCRI will cover at its conference.
I wrote an article earlier this year on the time to first medical care for injured workers. WCRI published a study on what I had been covering since 1988 – faster medical care = faster return to gainful employment.
Ramona Tanabe became the new President and CEO in May 2023 which was a great choice to steer the ship.
2024 WCRI Annual Conference Schedule
WCRI Annual Conference 1st Day – March 5th
Welcome & Introductions
8:30 AM – 8:45 AMat America Ballroom
Ramona Tanabe
CEO
President and CEO
WCRI
Day One Keynote: Prof. David Cutler, Harvard University
8:45 AM – 10:00 AMat America Ballroom
David Cutler
SPEAKER
Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics in the Department of Economics
Harvard University
Ramona Tanabe
MODERATOR
President and CEO
WCRI
Acclaimed Harvard economist David Cutler will talk about the recent transformations of the healthcare system, with an emphasis on ongoing trends, such as increasing overhead costs, involvement of venture capital, workforce shortages, or provider burnout. He will also talk about recent changes in …
Networking Break
10:00 AM – 10:30 AMat America Ballroom Foyer
Medical Inflation in Workers’ Compensation
10:30 AM – 11:15 AMat America Ballroom
Rebecca Yang
SPEAKER
Senior Policy Analyst
WCRI
Olesya Fomenko
SPEAKER
Economist
WCRI
The steep growth in consumer prices for energy, food, and housing over the last few years created concerns about potential rising inflation in medical care. This session examines to what extent the recent sizable price growth for all goods and services spread to the healthcare sector in general …
Psychological Risk Factors and Functional Recovery
11:15 AM – 12:00 PMat America Ballroom
Vennela Thumula
SPEAKER
Policy Analyst
WCRI
Randall Lea
MODERATOR
Senior Research Fellow WCRO
WCRI
This session provides insights into the prevalence of psychological risk factors, including fear avoidance or negative coping skills—often termed “yellow flags”—among physical therapy patients with low back pain. It also offers estimates on the impact of these factors on the functional…
Luncheon
12:00 PM – 1:30 PMat America Ballroom South
Employer Panel
1:30 PM – 2:30 PMat America Ballroom
Kathy Fisher
SPEAKER
Director of External Relations
WCRI
Michele Maffei
SPEAKER
Director of Workers Compensation
Publix
Sharon DelGuercio
SPEAKER
Sr. Manager, Workers Compensation
Walt Disney World Resort
Networking Break
2:30 PM – 3:00 PMat America Ballroom Foyer
Impact of Vertical Integration on the Utilization of Care
3:00 PM – 3:30 PMat America Ballroom
Bogdan Savych
SPEAKER
Public Policy Analyst
WCRI
Medical markets are increasingly concentrated. This means that patients are more likely to be treated by physicians at sites owned by hospitals and health systems. This raises a policy concern that the increasing concentration of medical providers may lead to higher payments for medical care with…
Excessive Heat and Work-Related Injuries
3:30 PM – 4:30 PMat America Ballroom
Sebastian Negrusa
SPEAKER
VP of Research
WCRI
David Bonauto
SPEAKER
Research Director, SHARP Program
Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
As spells of excessive heat have become more increasingly frequent over the last few years, an emerging body of research is pointing to a substantial relationship between excessive heat and the frequency of work-related injuries. This session will provide an overview of recent research, offer lat…
General Networking Reception
5:30 PM – 7:00 PMat America Ballroom South
SECOND DAY March 6, 2024
Coffee and Tea
8:30 AM – 9:00 AMat 4th Floor Foyer
Day Two Keynote: Prof. Connie Noonan Hadley, Boston University
9:00 AM – 9:45 AMat America Ballroom
Constance (Connie) Noonan Hadley, PhD
SPEAKER
Professor
Boston University’s Questrom School of Business
Societal trends, economic pressures, and new ways of working have upended traditional workforce dynamics. One consequence is the rise in workplace loneliness, part of what the U.S. Surgeon General called an “
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State of the States: Selected Findings
9:45 AM – 10:45 AMat America Ballroom
Sebastian Negrusa
SPEAKER
VP of Research
WCRI
Will Monnin-Browder
SPEAKER
Policy Analyst
WCRI
Carol Telles
SPEAKER
Senior Analyst
WCRI
This session features selected findings and trends seen across WCRI’s core benchmark studies, including the 17-state CompScope™ Benchmarks reports, a multistate benchmarking program that measures the performance of a growing number of state workers’ compensation systems.
Networking Break
10:45 AM – 11:15 AMat America Ballroom Foyer
Closing Panel Session
11:15 AM – 12:15 PMat America Ballroom
Andrew Kenneally
MODERATOR
Communications Director
WCRI
Joanne Moynihan
SPEAKER
Workers Compensation Claim Product Group
Travelers
Chrissy Lynch
SPEAKER
President
Massachusetts AFL-CIO
Our diverse panel of system stakeholders (employer, labor, insurers, and gov’t) will discuss the impact of current and future issues (AI; labor shortages; mental health; long COVID/COVID-19; workplace …
Concluding Remarks
12:15 PM – 12:30 PMat America Ballroom
Ramona Tanabe
SPEAKER
President and CEO
WCRI
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