2020 National Comp: The Sessions, the Speakers and Everything Else You Don’t Want to Miss

National Comp 2020 is coming to a living room near you on. Don’t miss these engaging sessions and top-notch speakers.
By: | October 1, 2020

For many, COVID-19 has brought a rapid shift to digitization, and the workers’ comp industry is no exception.  

Claims adjusters are telecommuting, workers’ comp patients are attending virtual physical therapy and industry professionals are finding themselves more reliant on a good WiFi connection than ever before.  

In these rapidly changing times, education about industry developments is more important than ever before. So, just like industry professionals, the National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference — National Comp — is going digital in 2020.

 

“The workers’ comp industry needs to look forward and to open new discussions about goals and best practices. This is the time to come together in new ways, to work toward a new kind of resilience and build our path forward,” National Comp Conference Chair Michelle Kerr said.  

The day-long virtual event on October 21 will be featuring a packed agenda, and the conference will be producing educational content all the way through next year’s event in October of 2021.  

The best part? All of this great industry content is 100% free to register for and attend. Here are the speakers, sessions and events that you can’t miss.  

Kicking Off Virtual Content, Year Round 

The virtual event will take place on October 21 and will feature two concurrent educational sessions from 12:30-1:30 p.m. and 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).

After that, the day will conclude with another general session from 3:30-4:30 p.m. The event will be kicked off at 11 a.m. ET with

Denise Zoe Algire, Director of Risk Initiatives, National Medical Director, Albertsons Companies

a leadership panel lead by Denise Zoe Algire, director of risk initiatives and national medical director at Albertsons Companies.  

After the virtual event, National Comp will continue producing two to three one-hour-long digital sessions each month and shorter, 20-minute Comp Talks to help industry professionals keep up-to-date with the latest changes and trends in the industry. Anyone interested can register for the free event and on-going digital sessions on National Comp’s website 

“National Comp’s special one-day event will include a cross-section of the great content we’ll be presenting over the next year, from top-level thought leadership to practical strategies that can have a tangible impact on workers’ comp results,” Kerr said.    

While the National Comp conference is trying to retain some aspects and feel of an in-person event, some popular session formats have changed to meet the growing needs of a digital audience 

Notably, the popular panel of Teddy Award winners has been replaced with a session featuring workers’ compensation programs that have gone above and beyond in their efforts to combat COVID-19.  

This new session will align with Risk & Insurance®’s new Teddy’s Excellence in Action series, which has already profiled companies with strong worker safety responses to the pandemic.   

An Eye Towards the Future 

From speeding up the shift to telemedicine and digitization to causing an economic recession that may alter premium prices, COVID-19 has remade the workers’ comp landscape.  

Comp professionals are now facing an industry that looks much different than it did when 2020 first started.  

To help workers’ compensation professionals manage these challenging times, the National Comp virtual event has several sessions geared towards preparing for the future of the industry.   

Mark Pew, senior vice president of product development and marketing, Preferred Medical

The second general session, “Passing the Torch Without a Stumble: The Coming Decade of Transition from Old to Young,” will look at how the industry can address the talent gap, the impending retirement of baby boomers, and how older workers can pass industry knowledge on to younger workers.  
“We felt it was important to close our one-day event on a forward-looking conversation that attendees can engage with,” Kerr said.  

“Fans of the conference’s popular 60 Tips in 60 Minutes presentation will appreciate these dynamic speakers and their lively and unscripted take on the looming talent crisis in the workers’ comp industry. I hope this session will spark meaningful conversations about the ways companies can better position themselves for what the future holds.” 

Moderated by Mark Pew, senior vice president of product development and marketing at Preferred Medical, this session will bring in workers’ compensation professionals of many ages and at many stages in their careers. Even though it’s virtual, the session plans to incorporate plenty of opportunities for audience engagement.  

“Be prepared to be active. Come in here to take notes and come in prepared to walk away from this conference with some nuggets that will help you for the balance of this year, and for the balance of this decade,” Pew said.

 

Other featured speakers include Barry D. Bloom, Managing Principal, The bdb Group; Andrew Cortese, senior manager of claims analytics, data security and financial controls for United Airlines; Marques Torbert, CEO of Ametros; and Claire C. Muselman, director of workers’ compensation for Continental Western Group.

A legal and regulatory trends update for 2021, a session on the link between physical and behavioral health, and a case study that examines the benefits of treating injured workers using sports medicine principles round out the rest of the agenda.   

After the one-day virtual event, digital sessions will continue all the way up to next year’s event, where we hope to see everyone in-person in Las Vegas. Right off the heels of COVID-19, we may still be wary of handshakes and hugs, but get ready for the elbow bumps, bows and a year’s worth of virtual connection in the meantime. &


This year’s National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference virtual event will be held on October 21. The great thing about this year’s conference is that it doesn’t end there. The conference team has worked hard to bring attendees educational content all the way through next year’s event in October of 2021.  

Courtney DuChene is a freelance journalist based in Philadelphia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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