The work comp conference – more buzz…

Here in no particular order is what I can recall (and am allowed to post) from the last couple days at the comp conference.
First off, more activity, more smiles, more enthusiasm than I’ve seen in several years at the show. Things are looking up for payers and vendors, and that’s a welcome change from the past.

The Linked-In roundtable was big fun – some good controversy, a fair amount of not-heated-nonetheless-blunt discussion of TPA motivations, case management outcomes, the negative influences of the soft market, the travails of the claims adjuster, and how to assess outcomes/what to measure.
A few axes were ground and oxen gored, and if you missed the last hour or so when there was a very direct discussion of the unintended consequences and inherent conflict-of-interest in the current managed care fee structure and commission/marketing fee/kickback ‘system’ that’s too bad.
It was the first time I’ve seen a blunt and open discussion of the fundamental problem with managed care in workers comp – the more services delivered, and the higher the bills for those services, the more money the managed care vendors – and the payers splitting fees, sharing percentage-of-savings, earning commissions – make.
Why?
Exam Works was a big presence on the floor with a horde of young, shiny, physically attractive sales folks eager to discuss the benefits of working with what appears to be an amalgamation of mom-and-pop peer review and IME companies. I didn’t get it.
Mitchell and Ingenix staff were there, cohabiting in the same booth, and talking together with prospects and clients. A couple current clients I spoke with are going to transition to the new Mitchell bil review platform, a couple others are going to do a market check to see what else is out there. It is far too early to know how this is going to settle out; we’ll keep watching.
Several VC types were circulating, talking to and about prospects and deals and looking for the next big thing. More to come on this front, perhaps sooner than later.
Much discussion around the Coventry booth about the impact of Ken Loffredo’s departure. Ken is well known in the business, has more relationships than you can count, and leaves a big hole. How they’re going to fill that hole is the subject of much speculation.
Pat Sullivan’s new venture is WorkCompWire, a family-run business looking to provide news and other services on line to the community. He’s working it hard, and it is good to see another effort to get more information to the work comp community.
And finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tip the hat to CompPartners. Their hospitality suite had the finest collection of red wines I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing at a conference; it was great to see old colleagues doing well – and having a lot of fun. John Swan can sing and play guitar, and Steve Huntington’s knowledge of Napa reds is, well, impressive.