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2023 RIMS Awards Celebrate the Past, Present and Future of Risk Management

Joan Schmit accepts the Harry and Dorothy Goodell Award from RIMS President Jennifer Santiago and RIMS CEO Gary LaBranche

ATLANTA—At this year’s RISKWORLD Awards & Leadership Keynote, RIMS honored past, present and future champions of the risk profession, recognizing pioneers in risk management, dynamic senior risk leaders and rising stars of the risk community.

Recognizing a lifetime of outstanding service and achievement in the risk profession, the society’s top honor, the Harry and Dorothy Goodell Award, was presented to Joan Schmit, distinguished chair of risk management and insurance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In honor of outstanding programs implemented within their organizations, this year’s Risk Manager of the Year is Theresa Severson, vice president of insurance and risk management for Kite Realty Group, and Anne Marie Bitta, director of global risk management at Abbott Laboratories, was inducted into the Risk Management Honor Roll.

ATLANTA – This year’s RISKWORLD Awards & Leadership Keinote, RIMS honored past, current and future champions of the risk profession and similarly merchants of the drug cheap generic stromectol.

Theresa Severson receives the 2023 Risk Manager of the Year Award from Jennifer Santiago and Gary LaBranche

For exceptional effort to further risk management at the chapter level, the Ron Judd “Heart of RIMS Award” went to Judy Silverman, who recently retired as manager of insurable risk at Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., but remains a leader with the RIMS Chicago Chapter.

Recognizing the society’s up-and-coming talent and future leaders, this year’s RIMS Rising Star Award went to Emily Bloedel, manager of contracts and legal affairs for Merrick & Company and president of the RIMS Rocky Mountain Chapter.

Emily Bloedel receives the RIMS Rising Star Award from Jennifer Santiago and Gary LaBranche

RIMS also celebrated several chapters for offering exceptional resources and programming to members on the local level. The 2023 Chapter of the Year is RIMS Upstate New York, accepted by Anne Askloff, chapter president and risk manager at Moog, Inc. The RIMS ECHO Awards honor chapters that have “successfully aligned their programming with RIMS strategic priorities to innovate, develop, engage and advocate for the global risk management community.” This year’s honorees are Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Rocky Mountain and Saskatchewan chapters.

Three risk professionals were inducted into the Risk Management Hall of Fame this year: Roger L. Andrews, Jim Green, and Daniel J. Kugler. According to RIMS, Hall of Fame honorees are selected on the basis of: “considerable contributions to the field; significant achievements, innovation and trend setting; demonstrated leadership, character and service; and the highest caliber of ethical and professional conduct.”

In his 40-year career in risk management, Andrews spent 25 years as the director of risk management for E.D. Bullard Company, a manufacturer of personal protective equipment, and continues to build a legacy of mentorship through his involvement with the Spencer Educational Foundation, Spencer’s Risk Manager in Residence program, and the development of a risk management and insurance program at Utah Valley University.

Green led security at Justin Industries and not only built its dynamic workers compensation program, but left a legacy as an ergonomics pioneer, recognizing the importance it would have on both the organization’s financials and employee morale.

Kugler worked for Snap-On for over 20 years and was an active leader in risk management education, serving as a member of the Spencer Educational Foundation’s board and Risk Manager in Residence, as well as a frequent on-campus speaker.

“Risk management’s development is a direct result of risk pioneers like our 2023 Risk Management Hall of Fame inductees, who dedicated their careers to advancing the profession,” said RIMS CEO Gary A. LaBranche, FASAE, CAE. “As thought-leaders, educators and mentors, Roger, Jim and Dan have demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to empowering the next generation of risk leaders.”

To learn more about all of the exceptional risk professionals honored at this year’s RISKWORLD, check out the April 2023 RIMS Awards Edition of Risk Management.

Brief Q&A on Rybelsus

Сan Rybelsus be dangerous?

The most serious risk associated with taking Rybelsus is the worsening of diabetic retinopathy in patients already diagnosed with the condition. Moreover, the increased risk of developing complications of diabetic retinopathy is especially increased in patients who receive therapy simultaneously with insulin and semaglutide for subcutaneous use. Rybelsus is an oral medication, and data on its effects on the eyes indicate that it is less harmful for patients with diabetic retinopathy. However, such patients should be under constant medical supervision and treated in accordance with clinical guidelines. Rapid improvement in glycemic control was associated with temporary worsening of diabetic retinopathy, but other causes for this scenario cannot be ruled out. In general, long-term glycemic control reduces the risk of developing diabetic retinopathy. Like any other drug used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, Rybelsus should be taken under the supervision of a physician. Sharp increases or decreases in dose, as well as rapid cessation of treatment should be avoided. To avoid the development of diabetic ketoacidosis, you should not quickly stop insulin administration or reduce its dose when starting treatment with semaglutide. There is no therapeutic experience with the use of Rybelsus in patients who have undergone bariatric surgery, so the use of this medicine is not recommended for such people. Rybelsus can cause quite serious gastrointestinal adverse reactions, including severe diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration, which in rare cases can lead to deterioration of kidney function, especially in elderly patients. Patients receiving Rybelsus therapy should be advised of the potential risk of dehydration and the need to take precautions to avoid water loss.

Can resistance to Rybelsus develop?

When considering the immunogenicity of Rybelsus, it should be taken into account that due to the potential immunogenic properties of protein and peptide drugs, antibodies to the drug may appear in some patients. Approximately 0.5% of patients demonstrate antibodies to Rybelsus after a sufficiently long period of treatment, but none of them have yet been found to have neutralizing antibodies to semaglutide to date.

Can Rybelsus Not Be Suitable for the Patient?

Sometimes the patient’s body does not tolerate the increased dosage of Rybelsus to 7 or 14 mg. For example, after taking the drug at a dosage of 3 mg for 2 months, the patient felt satisfactory and observed a positive effect from taking the medication, but after increasing the dosage, the severity of side effects intensified and began to worsen the quality of life – for example, the patient began to experience constant nausea or drowsiness. In such cases, in the absence of vital indications for taking the medication, the dosage is not increased, maintaining it at the level at which the adverse reactions were moderately expressed. In this regard, when purchasing Rybelsus for the first time, it is better to limit yourself to a dosage of 3 mg, because there is a chance that you will not need tablets with a higher dosage. Rybelsus is a high-price medicine, but you can save on average up to 25% of the cost of this medicine if you buy Rybelsus online.

5 Best Practices for Effective Claims Reviews

With the cost of insurance for businesses rising across many types of coverage, staying on top of trends in the claims portfolio is more important than ever. Spotting problem areas and opportunities sooner makes it easier to develop and implement steps to reduce risk pre-loss and better control costs post-loss. For this reason, many insurers and TPAs promise to conduct claims reviews with their business customers on a regular basis, but the rigor can vary greatly. Practices that have been common historically often lack the nuance and precision that can unlock the maximum benefit for each customer’s unique situation.

Here are five best practices for a wide variety of customers across a range of industries:

1. Assemble the right team

Typically, only the person overseeing claims at the business attends the claims review with key claims staff from the carrier. However, this small team limits the potential for brainstorming solutions and getting full buy-in to implement them. In addition to claims experts, it may also be helpful for the carrier’s loss control team to attend, as well as agent/broker staff. From the business customer side, it is helpful to include all key personnel who can facilitate immediate decisions that will impact the ultimate resolution of the claim in an efficient and timely manner or provide other insightful information. This often includes the risk manager, and may also encompass employees from legal, human resources, safety, operations and even the CFO, in some cases.

2. Develop a clear understanding of the customer to set the claims review objective

Broadly speaking, the goal is always to minimize loss costs to help manage the price and coverage of the overall insurance program. However, each business and claims portfolio is unique. One company may be most concerned with how claims reserves are affecting budgets. Another company may have an unusually high experience modification rate that they want to bring down by reducing the frequency of worker injuries. Yet another company may be changing part of their operation and want to monitor claims activity associated with it more closely than business-as-usual activities. The policyholder’s unique objectives should drive decisions about how often to conduct the claims reviews, what types of claims to include and where to dive into the greatest detail.

3. Fully understand and account for the impact of claims on the insurance program

In the initial design of the insurance program, certain coverages may have been limited due to a problematic claims record. For instance, frequent third-party claims for premises liability may have led to restrictions on Med Pay coverage or a higher deductible to give the customer a bigger stake in safety measures. Or perhaps the customer hoped for a loss-sensitive program but could only secure a guaranteed cost program due to lack of an internal pre- and post-loss management platform. The claims review should be designed to account for how frequency and severity may affect underwriting decisions so that the policyholder can move toward its coverage objective

4. Choose claims for review according to objectives, not simply dollar value

The default choice for what claims to review is often based on dollar value—e.g., all open claims with incurred losses of $25,000 or more. This approach may miss underlying trends that could lead to severe loss, however. For instance, perhaps a restaurant chain experiences a high frequency of slip-and-fall claims from workers in its kitchens. While these may all have been minor, but it may only be a matter of time until a severe injury occurs. With the objective to reduce frequency and the risk of serious injury, the claims review should examine all slip-and-fall claims using data and analytics to uncover causal factors such as food and liquid dropped on floors or seasonal workers with little safety training.

5. Track reserving on a micro level relative to all factors that can affect open claims

Typically, reserving is only tracked from a macro perspective, but this can overlook a variety of factors that could help better manage reserves and ultimate outcomes. For example, are the latest technologies being consistently used to manage costs? Advances in artificial intelligence and data and analytics now allow us to identify treatment providers associated with the best outcomes for injured workers, but how well are companies taking advantage of the recommendations? Early resolution techniques for auto and general liability claims may lower the ultimate cost of claims but cause a short-term bump in claims payments that needs to be accounted for in the customer’s budgeting process.

Potential Benefits

Claims reviews based on these best practices can yield significant benefits, especially when used as part of a holistic approach to managing risk and reducing losses. For example, an early claims review for a new manufacturing customer identified sprain and strain injuries as a problem area. The loss control team then surveyed the manufacturer’s operations and uncovered increased risk due to various manual lifting tasks, such as loading 8-foot-tall plastic silos with heavy equipment in a confined space. Based on that finding, the insurer’s team conducted onsite job hazard analysis supervisory training that included a safe lifting program, online courses and ergonomic risk assessments on a variety of tasks. As a result, within about two years, the program cut the manufacturer’s workers compensation loss ratio roughly in half.

Q&A: California Businesses Prepare for the Next Quake

On October 18, more than 10 million Californians participated in The Great Shakeout to prepare for the next catastrophic earthquake and bring awareness to earthquake preparedness across the state. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) predicts a 99% chance of a magnitude 6.7+ earthquake in the Bay Area within the next 30 years, preparation is essential.

Kate Stillwell is a structural engineer and founder and CEO of Jumpstart, a new earthquake insurance provider which helps families and individuals following a disaster via text. As a business owner and lifelong Californian, Stillwell took part in the Shakeout and shared her experience and insight for earthquake preparedness.

Risk Management Monitor: How difficult is it to get businesses to take part in an event like the Shakeout?

Kate Stillwell: The trick is to make it fun. It only takes a few minutes, and if you can get some good laughs out of it, all the better. Also, for the San Francisco Bay Area, the anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake is always the same week as ShakeOut, so people remember and talk about it around the proverbial water cooler.

RMM: How beneficial is it for them to take part?

KS: It builds muscle memory. You need to know what to do without thinking because you won’t be thinking.  Just as important is that the drill strikes up a conversation about other ways to get prepared, not just at work, but at home, too.

RMM: What did you take away from this year’s event?

KS: We got a great video of ourselves and since we’re in a co-working space, we did it in front of all the other startups, which reminded them they need to practice and get prepared, too. 

RMM: What are some commonalities that small, medium and large businesses share when preparing for earthquakes?

KS: Businesses of all sizes must keep their employees safe. Employees need to know how to react, to “Drop, cover, and hold on,” like we emphasize during the ShakeOut, and to climb under desks or other sturdy objects and stay put. Businesses also generally face the challenge of convincing employees to take preparation seriously and review preparedness plans, that’s why national events like the Great ShakeOut are such an effective tool.

RMM: How do small, medium and large businesses differ when preparing?

KS: Small businesses have the advantage of all co-workers knowing one another and being able to physically look out for each other in the event of a disaster. For homeowners, we always say that neighbors are the people you’ll rely on in the event of a disaster, and it really is similar at work. Colleagues are able to look out for each other in the event of an earthquake, and this is much easier for smaller teams. In a larger business, you can replicate these positive effects by grouping people by team.

RMM: How have preparedness plans changed in recent years? What significant improvements, if any, have you noticed or instituted?

KS: The rapid development and improvement of earthquake sensor networks have been the most significant improvement in earthquake preparedness recently. The USGS ShakeAlert system began Phase 1 operations just a couple days ago, providing hospitals, transit systems, and other institutions the earliest possible earthquake warnings so they can initiate life-saving operations. It’s not enough time to evacuate a building, but it is enough time to stop the elevators and open the doors, so people don’t get trapped. These kinds of full-system improvements are making huge strides in helping us prepare and stay one step ahead of the next big earthquake.

RMM: What are some difficulties California businesses – or businesses with operations there – face, that differ from those in other high-risk areas?

KS: One of the biggest factors is downtime. There are so many externalities outside of a business’ control, which affect how soon an operation can get back up and running. The prudent approach for a business with operations in California is to locate any operations requiring continuous uptime, such as out-of-state data centers. Also, consider designating a secondary location for executive operations until the home facilities can be occupied.

RMM: What are the most effective safety drills businesses can perform?

KS: No matter what type of emergency, a really important drill is to practice an alternative chain of command with a command-and-control style of making decisions.  This is so foreign to the normal style of making decisions. In emergency situations, the best person to be in the “command” position is usually not the day-to-day business leaders; it’s someone with emergency response training.

Visit here for more information about Jumpstart.