Deconstructing Comp

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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/ ¡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

Yvonne and Rafael FINALLY catch up with Carlos Luna, who lives in Denver, Colorado. It took us a while to schedule an interview with Carlos, but it is well worth the wait! So, come along, and let's get all caught up with Carlos about his new role at New Reign Capital, his deep and varied thoughts about our amazing industry, and, sadly, as he shares his thoughts about the recent loss of a beloved work friend and colleague, Joe Frank Rodriguez. Talking to Carlos is very easy. He is extremely articulate and very knowledgeable about risk management and workers' compensation issues. Like us, he loves giving back to the industry through charitable organizations and causes. As we always say, time flies by so fast during our guest interviews; that is no exception here. Once again, we learned a few things we didn't know about Carlos, and we are sure some of these things will surprise you too. Are you ready? Grab your headphones and let's go talk to Carlos Luna... Check out New Reign Capital here: https://www.newreigncap.com/ Donate to the GoFundMe campaign for Joe Frank Rodriguez: https://gofund.me/8e5e0823 From Yvonne: as I listened to Carlos' episode several times during editing, I was touched by Carlos' call to action to do more to take care of our industry's claims professionals, and it made me think of this song by Dwight Yoakam...hence the title to this episode. Enjoy! Let's Work Together by Dwight Yoakam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Jf7ah8Rxo ¡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

For the second year, Yvonne and Rafael identify ten issues to frame their conversations with guests as they kick off a new season. Here we go with Season 4! Are you ready? Our issues are... Provider Shortages Chronicity Economics of Inflation Mental health and well-being . Embracing AI Need for good education Acknowledging bias Federal benefits in workers’ compensation Expanding workplace issues Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging(DEIB) BONUS! Presidential election year. There is much to discuss as we enter the election year cycle. Who wants to talk politics? ¡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

Join Yvonne and Rafael as they pause for a few minutes to reminisce about all the fun they had interviewing guests in their 3rd season! Grab your headphones and get ready for a few laughs -- you can always count on Rafael's laughter in each and every episode! ¡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

Wow, what a fantastic conversation with Dr. Leslie Cadet, a native of Tampa, FL! In this episode, we learn that Leslie grew up in Tampa and started her education at none other than University of South Florida (USF), Yvonne's alma mater and Rafael's adjunct teaching university for 20+ years! From there, she went on to the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where she became a medical doctor, then on to Harvard's T. H. Chan School of Public Health, where she earned her Master of Public Health (MPH), Occupational and Environmental Health. What an impressive education! After Harvard, Leslie decided to join the Air Force to help pay for her education, where she became a flight surgeon, with 1,080 successful combat missions and 2,000 airlift missions. And guess what? She loves to salsa dance! Un-BULL-ievable (that's a USF thing!) Her new mission is to radically improve the workers' compensation system, one patient and one provider at a time. It won't take you long to understand that Yvonne and Rafael are completely star-struck with Dr. Leslie Cadet. We both LOVE her! Learn more about Dr. Leslie Cadet's Ascend program here: Ascendoccmed.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

¡Qué lindo! ¡Hablamos con Julian Robinson en español! How lovely! We are speaking with Julian Robinson in Spanish! During our recording of our podcast episode with guest Julian Robinson, we learned he speaks fluent Spanish! So we recorded a short bonus episode talking in Spanish. Well, it's mostly Julian and Yvonne, with Rafael listening in. Still a fun diversion. ¡Disfruten queridos oyentes! Enjoy dear listeners! ¡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

Join us as we dive in and get to know Julian Robinson! Julian is the workers' compensation director at the City and County of San Francisco. Julian shares his educational background, studying business and then embarking on a study abroad trip to India that ignited his love for travel and exploring other cultures. We discovered that Julian is fluent in Spanish! So, we recorded a short bonus track in Spanish that we will release very soon (watch for it!). Did you know that before the city adopted its name of San Francisco in January 1847, it was called Yerba Buena? It's a fact. Please connect with Julian on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianerobinson/ ¡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

Come along for a fascinating conversation with Dr. Tomer Anbar and Duane Johnson with the Institutes of Health. We caught up with them during the WCI Conference in Orlando, Florida. Duane Johnson obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Health Services management from Indiana University Bloomington. Dr. Anbar studied clinical psychology, psychodynamic psychiatry, and group psychotherapy. While conducting research in Mexico City, he stumbled upon an interesting phenomenon during a specific time of the year: hospitalizations spiked at the same time birds started showing up dead. He discovered an interesting correlation. We learn that Dr. Anbar was among the first to study the biopsychosocial model of care and grew up learning from his dad in therapeutic communities. What do we want in workers' compensation? Proven clinical outcomes, accelerated MMI, and decreased claim costs. For more information about Institutes of Health: 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

Come along with Yvonne and Rafael and get to know Roberta Serena Mike, Field Claim Adjuster for Strategic Comp in Georgia! As you will learn, Roberta has spent her entire career in the insurance industry. She started with The Travelers and liked workers' compensation early on. In this episode, Roberta shares with us the twists and turns of her career. She talks about leaving Garden City, New York, moving to Georgia, and how she built a name for herself with a solid reputation that had several companies seeking her out for the good work she does. We normally try not to "date" the recording of our episodes, but we were very close to August 17, "workers' compensation adjuster day!" So want to take moment and say "THANK YOU!" to all the wonderful workers' comp adjusters out there. Roberta started a Facebook group called "Workers' Compensation Career Mentorship Group." At the time of recording just a few short weeks ago, she mentioned she had 700 followers, but today she has over 1,000 (and growing)! Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/6097845866894251 And check out Roberta's "Nikon Bert" photography page: https://www.nusouthmoments.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

Do you know Raja Sundaram with Plethy, Inc.? If not, you are in for a treat! Raja is a workers' comp newbie. He and his company Plethy have entered the workers' compensation scene in the last few years and they are making some big waves! If you missed the Star Wars reference in the title, it is considered one of the most iconic quotes from the original movie. It is from Yoda during his training with Luke Skywalker: “No, Try Not! Do or Do Not, There Is No Try.” It is very fitting for this conversation, and Raja has real ties to Star Wars movies! Listen during the episode (he's a fast talker). As a newbie, he brings so much of what we need to the workers' compensation industry: an engineering mind, empathy, and innovation. Raja's takeaway is this: " The workers' compensation industry is an incredibly noble profession that is about helping human beings have the quality of life that we all deserve." So, the Star Wars quote is so fitting. How are YOU showing up in workers' comp? Whatever your role is, ultimately, what you do impacts an injured person in some way. So, all you workers' comp Jedi out there...Try not! Do, or do not! There is no try. Come along with Yvonne and Rafael...let's go talk to Raja! Learn more about Plethy here - https://www.plethy.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

Melissa Steger is the associate director of workers' compensation and unemployment insurance for the University of Texas System in Austin, Texas. In this episode, Melissa shares how she started her career in workers' comp, delivering workers' compensation checks. In that first job, she became curious, fell in love with workers' compensation, and has spent her career of over 30 years learning and working to make improvements to the system. For more information about UT System's workers' compensation program, click here: https://www.utsystem.edu/offices/risk-management/workers-compensation-insurance-0 ¡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

Come along with us and get to know Jim Allsup, founder of Allsup Employment Services and the Ticket to Work program for individuals who qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. Individuals who qualify are offered Vocational Return to Work services free of charge. In this episode, Yvonne and Rafael talk to Jim about the Ticket to Work program and what he says is a little-known benefit for individuals who qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. Learn more about the Ticket to Work program here: https://www.allsupemploymentservices.com/ Check out Jim Allsup's expert services for individuals seeking Social Security Disability benefits. They offer nationwide assistance, and their representatives are available and ready to provide help: https://www.allsup.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