The Hanover’s Carmen Sharp Places Improvement at the Fore, Making Her an Exec to Watch

Some executives are content to leave well enough alone. Not so for The Hanover’s vice president of workers’ comp claims, medical strategy and shared services, Carmen Sharp. Sharp joined The Hanover in early 2019 and made a quick and impressive impact on both her team and the organization as a whole.

In her role, Sharp manages a team of 109 employees across six locations and has oversight of the company’s Medicare secondary payer process. Approaching 2023, Sharp believes the way forward is to do more with less and to ensure her staff’s experience is being put to good use with new efficiency measures that still retain the core of outstanding customer service.

“We’re managing some of the same challenges everybody’s got — making sure we’ve got the right talent onboard and keeping them in place. Employee retention is very important to us, so that we get the right expertise on those claims,” Sharp said.

To do this, Sharp’s segment is investing heavily in digital capabilities over the next three to five years, including automation. For Sharp, this is especially important in a mature space like workers’ compensation.

“There are well-worn paths in terms of the way we manage claims and outcomes, so looking for new and different ways to manage outcomes is a big deal for us,” she explained.

“We’re putting together a program to manage factors like the biopsychosocial elements using technology, and then using our expert resources a little bit differently when we do detect those factors to get a better outcome on the claim. We began this earlier this year, and middle of next year we’ll have a pretty good read on how much impact we’re making.”

In addition to successes on the horizon due to strategic improvement within The Hanover, Sharp is optimistic about the workers’ comp industry overall: “The work comp line of business has enjoyed a pretty good run the last few years, so we’re looking forward to more of that,” she said.

“Though a lot has been made over the rate reductions, I always hasten to remind people that those are because the outcomes are improving.”
Sharp’s steps since her onboarding have contributed to substantial results for The Hanover, saving nearly $10 million over the past year and lifting morale in her team.

She’s implemented a system in which all of her staff can identify opportunities with the launch of a continuous improvement process. In addition, she is an advocate for the advancement of women in the industry and has promoted women in her own organization to leadership and management positions. Her current leadership team is 70% female. &

Carmen Sharp has been selected as a 2023 Risk & Insurance® Executive to Watch. To see the other executives selected this year, visit here.