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Recently, Yvonne and Rafael attended the 2025 Florida Bar and WCCP Workers' Compensation Forum, April 9-11, in Orlando, Florida. 

Unfortunately, there was no wi-fi available to do live streaming, which is what we planned to do, but we did talk to several folks and conducted short interviews to capture their excitement and thoughts about the conference. 

Conference interviews include: 

Judge David Langham, Florida Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation Claims
Stacy Hossman, Executive Director of WCCP
Oneill Martinez, FL Mediator
Yvonne and Rafael take time to catch up
Holly Akers, Claimant Attorney - Jacksonville, FL
Ya'Sheaka Williams, Defense Attorney - Tampa, FL
Adam Levy, Defense Attorney - Tampa, FL

We hope you enjoy this "bonus" episode of on-the-spot interviews at one of our top Florida conferences. 

The conference takes place again in 2026 at the same location at the Omni® ChampionsGate Resort in Orlando, FL, and you can check here for information about that and other events by WCCP: https://www.wccp.org/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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After much anticipation since we started this podcast, Stuart Colburn joins us for a special episode focused on Texas! 

Stuart, a shareholder at Downs & Stanford, P.C., has over 25 years of experience in workers' compensation. He shares his journey into our industry and expertly navigates the evolution of the Texas Workers' Compensation system since the 1980s. Throughout the conversation, he highlights the unique aspects that make Texas' approach distinctly different from those of other states.

Stuart is board certified in Workers' Compensation Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and was the founder and first Chair of the State Bar of Texas Workers' Compensation Section. He co-authors the Texas Workers' Compensation Handbook published by LexisNexis and, as a certified lobbyist and frequent Division of Workers' Compensation conference representative, brings valuable policy perspective to the conversation.

(Correction: Stuart mentions 2011 as the year Wikipedia and iTunes emerged; however, the correct year is 2001.)

NOTE: Stuart shares a slide deck during this episode, which you can see in the video version on our YouTube channel. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Texas Workers' Compensation Handbook 2025 Edition

Texas Department of Insurance - Workers' Compensation 

Texas Subsequent Injury Fund

American Medical Association (AMA) Guides

Official Disability Guidelines ODG by MCG 

National Comp Conference

Stuart Colburn bio

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We like to have fun with our episode titles when we can, hence "Alphabet Soup." Still, despite the fun name, this is an informative episode, particularly for those newer to the workers' compensation industry. 

Our guest is Jennifer Wolf, president and CEO of MWCIA in Minneapolis, MN. 

Jennifer expertly navigates through many of the common terms and acronyms we use. This is certainly not meant to be an exhaustive list of terms, so we have included several links for a more complete list for the nerdy folks like us: 

California Department of Industrial Relations Glossary

Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Glossary of Acronyms

Florida Senate 440 Statutes Workers' Compensation Definitions

Pie Insurance Workers' Comp 101 Glossary

Texas Department of Insurance Workers' Comp Insurance Glossary

We hope you enjoy it. If we missed a term or acronym you think should have been included, let us know! We may need to do a "Part 2" on terms and vocabulary! 

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Joe Paduda joins us to explain the basic framework of our workers' compensation system. In this episode, we discuss why our system is so complicated and some of the key features of several states. 

While Yvonne tries to keep the conversation focused on basics, Ralph and Joe wander on a few tangents, such as discussing the potential of a federalized workers' compensation system. Joe explains why that is not likely to happen and they explore Medicare and Medicaid components.

Whether you are new to workers' comp or are a seasoned industry professional, this is a fun conversation that reviews some basic elements of our system and we introduce a few core concepts and terms such as frequency, severity, medical, indemnity, and administrative expense. 

Joe tells us what he likes about workers' compensation and it is a key element of why we have such good people in the system and why they work hard to make it better every day. 

You'll have to find us on YouTube and watch the video of this episode to see the cameo appearance of Joe's dog Oakley!

Check out Joe's blog on Substack here: 

https://joepaduda.substack.com/

You can find more information Joe has shared over the years at his original website Health Strategy Associates:

https://healthstrategyassoc.com/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Join us as we kick off Season 5 with Alex Swedlow, President of CWCI and the "History of Workers' Compensation." 

Alex Swedlow is the President of the California Workers' Compensation Institute (CWCI). 

Alex is a previous guest on our podcast and we are so happy to welcome him back with his version of a brief "History of Workers' Compensation." As you will see, he is also a Workers' Compensation "nerd", just like Yvonne and Rafael, and he loves to talk about the history of our system which can be traced back over 4,000 years! 

Whether you are "tenured" in Workers' Compensation and insurance like the three of us are, or are new to the industry, we encourage you to listen for a quick summary of our endlessly fascinating system and its roots. 

Check out our new YouTube channel - @DeconstructingComp where we will drop our episodes in video format. 

For more information about CWCI, please visit https://www.cwci.org/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Here we go with Season 5! 

We can't believe we are kicking off the fifth season of Deconstructing Comp! 

Co-hosts Yvonne Guibert and Rafael Gonzalez are back and ready to welcome a new season of conversations with their guests. 

This year, we are returning to our original idea of breaking down the workers' compensation system into bite-sized digestible nuggets of information. We call it the "Cliff's Notes" approach to understanding workers' compensation. 

Please join us on our new journey. We think it will be fun for professionals new to the industry and those of us who have been here for a while. 

Yvonne is committed to keeping episodes to 30-35 minutes! 

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Yvonne and Rafael take some time to relive and review 2024 Season 4 and chat about a few changes they will make for Season 5. 

Thank you for listening! 

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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We are so happy to introduce you to Elise White, President of Change Forward Industries, based in the Atlanta Metro area in Georgia. 

Join us for an interesting conversation with Elise. You'll learn about her educational background, including that she studied criminal justice and how that led to a career in insurance and claims management.

Elise has 16+ years of experience managing claims for some of the biggest insurance companies, including Liberty Mutual, Travelers, and Zurich, and has developed quite an affinity for supporting at-risk youth, as well as at-risk industries. She recently launched Change Forward Industries. 

Listen to this episode to learn more about Elise, her career and what she's been up to lately, including some very important work with Diversity and Talent Alliance (DATA).

Here are some resources related to our conversation: 

1. Change Forward Industries - https://changeforwardindustries.com/
2. Article about RIMS/WCI Research Presentation: www.workerscompensation.com_Want better worker safety-tryEmpathy
3. Diversity and Talent Alliance (DATA) , Non-profit https://www.diversityandtalent.org/
4. Support the DATA Fundraiser - Workers' Compensation Empathy Relay Digital Game for $10: https://www.diversityandtalent.org/store/p/empathy-relay-digital-game-workers-comp-edition

Note from Elise: "I did not state these stats with 100% accuracy, but here is the insurance data on the aging workforce and talent shortage within insurance:" 

Stats mentioned: 

• 4% millennials interested in working in insurance careers, PEW Research
• 50% of insurance professionals are looking to retire by 2028, National Association of Mutual Insurance 

We love Elise and we think you will too! Grab your headphones and let's go talk to Elise!

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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In this episode, we get to know Evelyn Eury, Director of Program Claims, Occupational Risk/P&C Lead at Crum & Forster—a leading carrier in property and casualty, accident and health, and specialty insurance solutions. Evelyn shares her journey from studying journalism to her current role, where she navigates the intersections of workers' compensation, property & casualty, and other insurance lines.

Our conversation covers a variety of topics, including:

• Saluting Veterans: Recorded on Veteran’s Day, we honor Evelyn’s husband, Seth, an active-duty US Coast Guard member, and all who have served our country.
• Cameo by Saint: Evelyn’s Weimaraner, Saint, makes a guest appearance.
• Mentoring the Next Generation: Evelyn discusses mentoring young insurance professionals and inspiring them to pursue careers in risk and insurance.
• Mom Life: Balancing her career while raising three daughters, along with trends in beauty products and Sephora adventures.

This extended episode is a wonderfully organic conversation filled with insights and heartwarming moments. Grab your headphones, your favorite beverage, and join us for an inspiring chat with Evelyn Eury!

For listeners who are newer to the industry, here are links to the conferences we mentioned during the episode: 

CLM (Claims and Litigation Management):
https://www.theclm.org/allevents

Workers' Compensation Institute (WCI) Conference:
https://www.wci360.com/

National Comp Conference:
https://wcconference.com/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Let's get to know Melissa Marks, Senior Leave Supervisor at Pepsico. What does a "Leave Supervisor" do for an employer? Shout out to our friend Natalie Torres for introducing us to Melissa.

In this episode, Melissa shares her personal health journey and how it has shaped her empathy for others, particularly as she navigates her role working with employees who experience work injuries.

Here is a link to Melissa's book, titled "Fight Faithfully"

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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We are so happy to bring you this episode featuring Dr. Crystal Cobos, Director of the Brain Injury and Concussion Clinic at Institutes of Health and Anne McDonnell, Advocacy and Affiliate Specialist for the Brain Injury Association of
America and former Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of Virginia.

In this episode, we discuss the recent development announced in late July by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: CMS now officially recognizes Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) as a chronic condition. According to the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) this is a victory for the brain injury community. CMS has added TBI to its list of chronic conditions for chronic special needs plans (C-SNPs) through its Medicare Advantage program, effective for the January 2025 plan year.

What does this mean for brain-injured employees and the workers' compensation community? Bottom line? We see this as a good thing. Tune in to hear what more these two experts have to say about it. 

For more information about Institutes of Health, Brain Injury Services, visit:
https://institutesofhealth.org/

For more information about the Brain Injury Association of America, visit: 
https://www.biausa.org/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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In this episode, you will hear from Jennifer Wolf, President of the Minnesota Workers' Compensation Insurance Association (MWCIA). She talks about what she studied in college, how she found her way into our wonderful industry, and how she loves our workers' compensation ecosystem.

We also learn what a rating does and how it contributes to the overall workers' comp system. According to the MWCIA website: "The primary function of MWCIA as a Data Service Organization (DSO) is to produce an annual Ratemaking Report, which is the basis for all workers' compensation rates in Minnesota. Insurers then apply their unique expenses and loss experience to these base rates to create their own independent rates."

In addition to her duties at MWCIA, Jennifer is also President of Kids' Chance of America. 

As you will learn, Jennifer is one of our brightest gems in the WC industry. Smart, funny, and a lover of our industry, she is the real deal.

Grab your earphones, and let's go chat with Jennifer! 

MWCIA - https://www.mwcia.org/

Kids Chance of America - https://www.kidschance.org/

National Academy of Social Insurance - https://www.nasi.org/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Come along with us as we catch up with two of the brightest leading women in our industry: Marijo Storment and Jenn Ryon. 

We start, as we usually do at the beginning of our episodes, discovering what Marijo and Jenn studied in school. Then, we chat about what it was like to launch ForzaCare. 

Next, we take a deep dive to focus on an organization that is near and dear to our hearts: Alliance of Women in Workers' Compensation (AWWC). Yvonne served as a Florida ambassador to the organization for over four years in Tampa, FL. She still loves to support and advocate for the organization. Rafael has been a long-time supporter of AWWC. 

We talk about AWWC, the organization's mission, vision and what you can expect if you attend one of their events. We encourage everyone to attend a national event, or a local event if you have an opportunity. 

Jenn serves as Vice President and Marijo is the Secretary, both serving in prominent positions on the board for AWWC.

So grab your headphones and get ready for a jam-packed fun exploration of one of the most influential organizations in our industry! They encourage everyone to leave their logos at the door, and come to their events to learn, network, and grow. 

For more information about Alliance of Women in Workers' Compensation: https://allianceofwomen.org/

To learn more about ForzaCare: https://thinkforza.com/

NOTE: since the recording of this episode, Jenn Ryon has transitioned to Prime Health Services. You can learn more about the company here: https://www.primehealthservices.com/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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We have a special treat for you just in time for a long weekend!

Dr. Tyrone Spears, Chief of the Workers' Compensation Division for the City of Los Angeles, is one of the best and brightest in the business. Yvonne and Rafael recently caught up with him for a lively, thought-provoking episode!

If you know Tyrone, you know he is a servant leader who continually does good things for others. Find out what he studied in school, what career path he considered, and how he found himself in the workers' compensation industry, an industry he has come to love.

Conversations with Tyrone are always fascinating. He is the real deal. So, grab your headphones and settle in for a cozy conversation with Tyrone about leadership, mentorship, diversity, equity, inclusion, doing good for others, and being a good human. We also talked about politics, our 2024 bonus topic, since we talked to him the Monday after Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidential race.

Some things we mentioned during the episode include:

Dr. Tyrone Spears - books on Amazon.com
-Autism Who? his latest book
-The Compassionate Leader
-Land The Job

Hazel's Hands - https://www.hazelshands.com/
Tyrone started this charity in his grandmother's name. Hazel's Hands provides resources, services, and leadership to meet the emerging needs of at-risk youth and their families in our communities.  

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Join Yvonne and Rafael as they chat with one of their hometown "sheroes" Brenda Cogdell, Director - Risk and Safety Division, Hillsborough County. 

Brenda shares her enthusiasm for her role at Hillsborough County and for the risk and insurance industry where she has dedicated her career to shaping a culture of caring for the employees she serves. 

Together we explore her journey from graduating from Tampa's University of South Florida (Go Bulls!) to entering the risk management industry, serving as the risk manager at the City of Manassas, Virginia, then coming back to Hillsborough County where she began. 

We talk about the culture Brenda is helping to build at Hillsborough County called "Workplace Possibilities!"

Learn how Brenda's father's career as a longshoreman shaped her and how it sticks with her still today. She believes team members who get hurt or ill at work ought to be reminded they are still part of a team, or a work family. 

Brenda Cogdell is the real deal! She happily shares her expertise and encourages young professionals to take advantage of all resources and mentors along their career journey. 

Some of the organizations we discuss in the episode include: 

Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) 
https://www.rims.org/

Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA)
https://primacentral.org/

Thank you for all you do Brenda! We LOVE you! 

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Les Shute is the Chief Innovation Officer at Infinity Nurse Case Management. Join us in this episode as we learn more about Les, including what Les studied in school and what he aspired to do in his career.

After graduating college as a Marketing Major and with a Minor in Computer Science, Les was recruited into the insurance industry and started as a workers' compensation adjuster!

In this episode, we learn that Les grew up with a strong influence in computer programming. He has immersed himself in learning all about artificial intelligence and

Les chats with us about OOM, "orders of magnitude," Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), neuro-symbolic AI, and other "mind-bending" scenarios and applications of artificial intelligence. We also discuss how AI may impact carbon-based life forms over the next 5-10 years.

Get ready for a fascinating conversation about AI, a recurring topic we have discussed several times this year. As we always say, we love all our guests, but this episode is super fun and thought-provoking. 

Learn more about Infinity Nurse Case Management here.

Interested in learning more about how artificial intelligence has progressed since the 1940s? Check out this timeline courtesy of Veerloop.io.

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Here is a bonus episode where your co-hosts Yvonne Guibert and Rafael Gonzalez pause to reflect on Season 4 so far. 

Can you belief half the year is already gone? 

Neither can we. Join us for a quick recap of what we've done so far on our podcast. We talk about the guests we've had and those who are joining us soon. 

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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In this episode, Yvonne and Rafael talk to Nikki Jackson, aka Nerdy Nikki. Why Nerdy Nikki? Because she loves talking about risk management and anything related to Property Casualty Insurance industry and she constantly pushes herself to learn more! She also loves to share her knowledge with others. We are lucky to know her!

We get to know more about Nikki during our chat and we talk about how to attract and retrain new talent AND Artificial Intelligence, one of our favorite topics! 

FACT CHECK CORRECTION: Yvonne mentioned Caryn Siebert and what she says about how much we spend on insurance. Note it is an average of 20% of our salary, not 30% as Yvonne said in the episode. Here is a link to Caryn's episode: https://deconstructingcomp.buzzsprout.com/1771455/9574613-caryn-s-adventures-in-insurance-and-workers-comp

Check out Nikki's new website Elevate the Narrative and connect with her on ANY social media platform. She is literally on them all, including TikTok!!

Elevate the Narrative:
https://elevatethenarrative.com/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Let’s get to know Jeff Gurtcheff, Chief Claims Officer at Corvel. He joins us from just outside Atlanta, GA in Alpharetta, and he is a former neighbor to Rafael! Wow!

In this episode, Jeff shares his educational background, a little about what it was like to live next door to Ralph, his journey into the insurance and workers’ compensation industry, and how he has grown up through the insurance industry. 

We learn how at Corvel they are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to improve the claims management process and advancing the power of AI to make the job of adjusting claims something people can feel good about…helping people get better and get back to work!

Also, we learn about Corvel University where they are training the next generation of claims adjusters right out of high school. How awesome is that!

This episode is full of good information and we can’t wait for you to listen!

And another 1st:
Jeff is a former professional baseball player!!

Learn more about Corvel University here:
https://www.corvel.com/corvel-university/

https://riskandinsurance.com/tackling-the-adjuster-shortage-how-corvel-university-is-training-the-next-generation-of-claims-talent/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Another first for you! We are thrilled to introduce you to Chief David Picone, our first-ever fire chief on our podcast. He is the Fire Department Battalion Chief and Health and Safety Officer with the City of San Diego. 

June is PTSD Awareness Month, so we are happy to share our recent interview with Chief Picone.
 
In this episode, Chief Picone shares his educational background, his desire to be a rock star, his journey as a career firefighter, and how he has grown to be a steward for cultural change with the City of San Diego Fire Department. The success of San Diego's program has attracted attention from fire departments across the nation and even the Tokyo Fire Department, the largest urban fire department in the world, and Chief Picone has been an integral part of the program since 2017. 

Chief's call to action is for cities and fire departments everywhere to adopt similar changes that have been made in San Diego so that first responders get the care they need when they need it. Key elements to the City of San Diego's success include: 

• commit to building a culture of caring (it takes work!)
• demonstrate to first responders that you care about them and value their efforts
• encourage claims professionals to spend time with first responders to better understand the demands of their jobs
• accelerate access to care
• provide access to skilled and experienced medical professionals who are equipped to handle the needs of first responders, specifically when they come forward with symptoms of PTSD

A few points mentioned during this episode with Chief David Picone:

• Firefighters and police officers are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty
• First responders may experience 200+ traumatic events in their career vs. an average of 5 traumatic events in the average civilian's lifetime
• 1 out of 3 first responders develop PTSD

City of San Diego Fire-Rescue Health and Safety Office
https://www.sandiego.gov/fire/services/health-safety-office

Drexel University's Fire Service Organizational Culture of Safety (FOCUS) program for fire departments. Learn more here: 
https://drexel.edu/dornsife/research/centers-programs-projects/FIRST/our-projects/FOCUS/

Institutes of Health is the company offering the "Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)" 
https://institutesofhealth.org/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Are you ready to get to know Dionne Lacey-Artis, Chief Business Officer and Customer Centric Leader at Optum Workers' Comp and Auto No-Fault? 

Even if you DO know her, we think you will learn some things you DON'T know, when you listen to this podcast episode.

Dionne is based in Atlanta, Georgia. 
'
Yvonne Guibert and Rafael Gonzalez enjoy deconstructing issues in workers' compensation, however, it seems our podcast platform has taken on a new role...deconstructing our guests, and discovering how they came to be in the workers' compensation industry. That suits us just fine, because getting to know people is essential in business, especially in our industry.

Talking to our guests is always a fascinating journey, and so is this episode with Dionne. She shares many interesting facts about herself, like that she wanted to compete in the Olympics on roller skates, wanted to be a judge, she was a Tomboy, loves riding motorcycles and wanted to be a knee dragger, and so much more!

Listen to this episode and we are sure you will learn some things about Dionne you didn't know before. Plus, we couldn't be happier to hear that Dionne and other leaders at Optum are serious about redefining and building a culture focused on customer experience. That means there is a huge focus on finding and developing good people who want to be part of that culture. 

Here are some reference links for some things discussed during our conversation:

What is knee dragging?
https://www.motodeal.com.ph/articles/motorcycle-features/what-dragging-knee-motorcycle

A song and video about Salvador de Bahia, Brazil called "Gente Bonita":
https://youtu.be/jW0-jYz1PxI?si=Q49X0gmQG9vPwEf4

Traveling to Salvador, Brazil:
https://www.livemoretravelmore.com/salvador-brazil/

Optum Workers' Comp and Auto No-Fault:
https://workcompauto.optum.com/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Are you ready to meet Laura Michaels, MS, OT, PSHO, Occupational Health and Safety Manager for City of Palm Springs? 

Yvonne and Rafael recently met Laura at the PARMA 2024 conference in Indian Wells, CA, and boy do we LOVE her! Shout out to Jennifer Johnson for putting together a beautiful dinner at PARMA that brought us together. 

From the very first conversation, we knew we liked Laura. She possesses a very particular set of skills that combined make her one powerful risk and safety professional. She is getting it done with fantastic results in Palm Springs...Laura Michaels is walking the walk!

Tune in to hear Laura's unique perspective on the healthcare provider shortage, her educational background, her career as an occupational therapist, and how she shifted into a career in California workers' compensation and risk management. 

She talks about several things important for entities to champion to get these kinds of results they are seeing in Palm Springs. It centers around building a culture where employees feel supported. This includes: 

supportive reporting, supportive rehab, 90-day fast track process, nurse case management, getting to know your providers, knowing the kinds of providers you need for your worker population, building trust

Laura shares many pearls of wisdom in this episode: 

"I can't deny and I can't delay, but I can approve!" 

"Find ways to work within the workers' compensation system." 

Perhaps one of our favorite quotes from Laura, "Workers' compensation does not need to be a contentious situation...put yourself in the patient's shoes." 

#supportivereporting
#cultureofcaring
#fasttrack
#preauthorization
#outcomes
#validation
#curiosity
#litigation
#trust

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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In this episode, we get to know a real superhero in the workers' compensation industry, Josh Schuette, DPT, MBA, WRP, Director of National Workers' Compensation Sales and Account Management at Brooks Rehabilitation.

While there are so many amazing things to know about Josh Schuette, one interesting  thing is, he thinks Ryan Gosling is his spirit animal! And, just like the famous actor who played Ken in the blockbuster Barbie movie, Josh is also originally from Canada! He also shared that during the recording of this podcast episode, he was wearing his "I am Kenough" shirt.

Come along for another fantastic podcast episode with one of the best and brightest people in our industry. Not only does Josh share about his education and how he discovered the wonderful world of workers' compensation, we discuss the real issues facing everyone in the healthcare industry in regard to provider shortages.

Josh also shares about his struggle to prioritize self care, particularly when working so closely with injured worker patients, and the toll that it takes. He even shares some of the strategies and activities he is using to manage his self care. We thank Josh for his transparency and as he mentions during the episode, we hope that his talking about his self care helps others.

Thanks for all you do Josh! We love you!

Learn more about Brooks Rehabilitation:
https://brooksrehab.org/

Here is the charity Josh mentioned during his episode:
Ainsley's Angels of America - https://ainsleysangels.org/

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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Ramona Tanabe is our latest guest, right on the heals of the 40th Annual WCRI Issues & Research Conference, March 5-6, 2024, in Boston, MA. This is Ramona's second time as a guest on Deconstructing Comp. 

Join us as we discuss and recount highlights from the recent conference in Boston. Ramona turns the tables on Yvonne and asks her to share what sessions she learned something new at the conference. We also talk about Ramona's first year as CEO and how her experience has been. Plus, a few other fun details. 

To learn more about WCRI, visit them here: https://www.wcrinet.org/ 
Please consider becoming a member of WCRI to support their research efforts. 

Here is the latest report from the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) that Rafael mentioned during this episode https://www.nasi.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024-WC-Report-2021-Data-Final.pdf

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp

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In this episode, we talk to Joe Paduda, Principal of Health Strategy Associates, blogger, Syracuse Lacrosse fanatic, speaker and owner of a 1795 farmhouse in New Hampshire with a super squeaky farmhouse chair! Listen for the squeaky sounds during the episode. 

This is Joe's second time as our guest. We invited him back, specifically to discuss important issues related to the economy and how they may or may not impact insurance, and more specifically, the workers' compensation industry. 

Another interesting conversation, where we talk about several important issues, but mostly about how the economy at large impacts what we do in insurance and workers' compensation.  

FYI - Yvonne planned to do a deep dive into election year shenanigans, but we didn't spend too much time there and went right back to the economy. So, no hysterical laughing fits this time. It's probably for the best. 

You can follow Joe and his blog here: 
https://www.joepaduda.com/

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