2025 WCRI Conference – Worth It
The 2025 WCRI conference that I will attend is worth it for data wonks. I have attended the WCRI Conference for several years. It is 1.5 days of great information on everything related to workers comp data, research, and statistics.
I have included highlights from some of the presentations. For more information on the registration page, click here.
The networking breaks, lunch, and happy hour were not included in the conference description below.
WCRI Phoenix Conference
The New Year is a great time to set goals and embrace growth. To make meaningful progress, having the right knowledge is key.
We’re excited to invite you to the 2025 WCRI Issues & Research Conference, March 6–7 in Phoenix, AZ.
What You’ll Experience:
- Research: Discover findings on the medical workforce, comorbidities, degenerative diseases, and emerging trends such as recreational marijuana.
- Panels: Engage with regulatory specialists and industry leaders on critical issues shaping the field.
- Keynotes: Learn about the impact of the presidential election on health care policy, the trend of rural hospital closures and their impact on access to care, and more.
- Networking: Connect with employers, insurers, labor leaders, policymakers, healthcare providers, and others eager to share ideas and grow together.
Day-One Keynote: Health Care Policy and the 2024 Election
Lanhee J. Chen
Director of Domestic Policy Studies and Lecturer
Stanford University
Ramona Tanabe
Changes in the Medical Workforce
Economist WCRI
Senior Policy Analyst WCRI
Join us for an insightful session discussing the latest WCRI study on the evolving medical workforce. We’ll explore how shifts in the medical workforce could influence treatment patterns and selected claim outcomes of injured workers. Medical administrators and policymakers are sounding ala…
Impact of Comorbid and Degenerative Conditions
Dongchun Wang
Economist
WCRI
Randall Lea
Senior Research Fellow
WCRI
This session will unveil exciting insights from a new WCRI study designed for those keen on tackling the challenges of degenerative and comorbid conditions and their associated costs. The study sheds light on identifying common underlying conditions linked to specific injuries and targets these c…
Current Events in the California Workers’ Compensation System
Alex Swedlow
President
California Workers’ Compensation Institute
Ramona Tanabe
President & CEOWCRI
Association Between Pre-Injury Opioid Use and Opioid Use Post Work Injury
Gary Franklin
Research Professor
University of Washington
Sebastian Negrusa
Vice President of Research
WCRI
Regulatory Panel
Kathy Fisher
WCRI
Clarissa Rodriguez
Chair & Commissioner
New York State Workers’ Compensation Board
Marianne Saylor
Director
Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation
Gaetano Testini, Esq.
Director Industrial Commission of Arizona
Day-Two Keynote: Threats to Healthcare Access in Rural America
Mark Holmes
Director
North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
Ramona Tanabe
President & CEOWCRI
Our day-two keynote is Mark Holmes, PhD, who is a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health and director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, where he is also…
State of the States: Selected Findings
Sebastian Negrusa
Vice President of Research
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.
Closing Panel Session: Perspectives on COMPlex Topics
Andrew Kenneally
Communications Director
Workers Compensation Research Institute
Melissa Zaparanick
Head of Workers Compensation- Middle and Large Commercial
The Hartford Insurance Group
Billy Dycus
President
Tennessee AFL-CIO
Randall Lea
Senior Research Fellow
WCRI
Get ready for an engaging and dynamic discussion! This diverse panel of system stakeholders—representing employers, labor, and insurers—will dive into the current and future impact of key issues reshaping the workers’ compensation landscape. From AI and technology to labor shortages, .
