8:15 am
WORKSHOP A: Comprehensive Legal Update on the New Illinois Workers’ Compensation Reforms: Vital Risk Management Tactics to Protect Your Organization

The Illinois Workers’ Compensation System is undergoing dramatic changes including significant reforms to the Workers’ Compensation Act, as well as many new faces at the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. If you are in search of a definitive update on the implementation of the new reforms, you will not want to miss this interactive workshop. Our panel of experts will bring you the knowledge and tools you need to be proactive in order to reduce your exposure to litigation and control your workers’ compensation costs. Topics to be addressed include:

• Update on the new AMA Guidelines and how they impact PPD ratings at the Commission
• Determining whether Preferred Provider Plans are the best option for your organization
• Learn how wage differential claims will be calculated and how this will result in substantial cost savings for employers.
• Utilization Review changes and how they will impact employers

Bridget A. Neuson, RN, BSN, JD, President
Neuson Law, P.C

Barbara J. Spain, Senior Counsel
McDonald’s Corporation

Thomas Cronin, Esq., Attorney
Hennessy & Roach, P.C.

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8:15 am
WORKSHOP B: Innovative Legal and Claims Management Strategies for Handling Your Most Challenging Workers’ Compensation Claims

This interactive workshop will provide you with claims management strategies for mitigating exposures in tricky, high value claims including back injury, drug addiction, pain treatment, employee performance problems, and more. Our panel of experts will focus on a real-life, simulated workers’ compensation claim and bring you solutions to your most challenging claims conundrums.
Topics to be addressed include:

• Proven tactics for successfully handling workplace back injuries that morph into complex claims including employee discipline and termination challenges
• How to reduce your risks in high value cases involving chronic pain, drug addiction and psychological injuries
• The impact of recent workers’ compensation reforms on resolving your most challenging cases
• Strategies for mitigating TTD/TPD and medical exposures
• Innovative methods of reducing your exposure for permanent wage loss and permanent disability

Keith J. Herman, Esq., Partner
Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry, P.C.

Lynn Combs, Esq., Partner
Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry, P.C.

David A. Victor, Esq., Partner
Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry, P.C.

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Mario Basurto, Commissioner
Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

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1:00 pm
KEYNOTE PANEL
Impact of the New Illinois Workers’ Compensation Reforms and the New Face of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission on Stakeholders
Our esteemed panel of industry experts and stakeholders will address the new Illinois Workers’ Compensation Reforms and how they will impact those on the frontlines of workers’ compensation.
Topics to be addressed include:

• Will the changes to the act help reduce workers’ compensation costs in Illinois?
• The new face of the IWCC and how this is effecting stakeholders
• What was left out of the legislation?

Moderator:
John F. Power, Esq., Partner
Power & Cronin, LTD.

Panelists:

John Traub, Manager, Workers Compensation
Dominick’s/Safeway

David B. Menchetti, Esq., Partner
Cullen, Haskins, Nicholson & Menchetti, P.C.
(Technical Advisor to AFL-CIO)

Jesse P. Butler, M.D.
Orthopedic Spine Surgeon, Spine Consultants, LLC
Member Medical Fee Advisory Board, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission

Charles Burhan, Assistant Vice President Public Affairs
Liberty Mutual Insurance

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2:45 pm
The Latest Developments in Workplace Back Injuries and How to Significantly Improve Outcomes: The Medical and Legal Perspectives
Workplace back injuries continue to have a painful effect on the bottom line in the form of lost days and employee productivity. Our experts will provide you with an update on the latest developments in the diagnosis, and treatment of back injuries as well as the latest court decisions, wage loss battles, FCE’s and thorny causation issues. Hear real-life case studies of workplace back injuries and learn what can be done to improve outcomes.

Eugene Keefe, Esq., Partner
Keefe, Campbell & Associates, LLC

Andrew S. Zelby, M.D., F.A.C.S., Neurosurgeon
Neurological Surgery and Spine Surgery, S.C.

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William M. Blumthal, Jr., Supervisor - Workers' Compensation Fraud Unit
Illinois Department of Insurance

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Moderator:
Bridget A. Neuson, RN, BSN, JD, President
Neuson Law, P.C.

Panelists:
Ted Whalen, Counsel
Illinois Department of Insurance

Barbara J. Spain, Senior Counsel
McDonald’s Corporation

Ingrid Carlson, Claim Account Executive
Travelers

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3:40 pm
Medicare Set-Asides: Recent Developments and Solutions to the Burning Issues
Hear the latest updates on Medicare Set-Asides and get answers to your biggest challenges. Topics to be addressed include:

• Dealing with denied cases and zero allocations
• The current state of prescription drugs
• What to do when cases don’t meet the CMS review threshold
• Case studies of real-life MSA quandaries and how to solve them

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4:35 pm
Update on Self-Insurance in Illinois: Impact of the New Illinois Workers’ Compensation Reforms on Self-Insureds

Chris Gibbons, Executive Secretary of the Illinois Self-Insurers Association, will moderate an enlightening panel discussion focused on the new reforms and the claims management and cost containment challenges facing self-insured employers. Topics to be discussed include: new AMA Guidelines, PPPs, Utilization Review and more.

Moderator:

Christopher J. Gibbons, Esq., Shareholder
Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry, P.C.
Executive Secretary, Illinois Self-Insurers Association

Panelists:

Diane M. Pidgeon, Director of Workers’ Compensation
Advocate Health Care

Paul Smith, Manager, Workers’ Compensation
Franciscan Saint James Hospital

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4:35 pm
Critical Strategies for Insured Employers to Keep Workers’ Comp Claims Costs Down During Challenging Economic Times
This session will focus on the challenges facing insured employers in Illinois and what can be done to control costs and overcome return to work obstacles. Topics to be addressed include:

• How to keep workers’ compensation insurance costs from driving businesses out of Illinois
• How to combat “economic injuries” and other fraudulent claims
• Partnering with your insurance company to control your costs

Micaela Cassidy, Executive Vice President
Cassidy Brothers, Inc.

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Mitchell Weisz, Chairman
Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission

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9:15 am
The Medical Perspective on New Requirements for Applying AMA Guidelines and What this Will Mean for PPD Ratings – Debunking the Myths
This session will focus on the new changes to the AMA guides and their impact on PPD ratings. Our medical experts will provide insights into the rating process, how the AMA Guides are to be used, and how to assure accurate ratings. You will also learn about controversies encountered in assessing impairment and disability and how to make sense out of impairment classifications.

Priti Khanna, M.D.
Advanced Occupational Medicine Specialists h

Christopher R. Brigham, MD, Chairman
Impairment Resources, LLC
(Formerly Brigham & Associates, Inc.)

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10:45 am
Point-Counter Point: How New AMA Impairment Ratings Will Change Workers’ Compensation Litigation
The use of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment has changed the way that permanent disability will be assessed by the Commission. The new “AMA ratings” could have a significant impact on the percentages of disability, and it is important that employers and insurers know how to best use this new tool in workers’ compensation litigation. Discover how these ratings will change the way claims are handled, and find out how to use AMA impairment ratings to keep PPD ratings at reasonable levels.

Bridget A. Neuson, RN, BSN, JD, President
Neuson Law, P.C.

David B. Menchetti, Esq., Partner
Cullen, Haskins, Nicholson & Menchetti, P.C.
(Technical Advisor to AFL-CIO)

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11:45 am
New Developments in Illinois Workers' Compensation Cases and How Recent Decisions Will Impact Employers and Other Stakeholders
Find out how the new cases will impact employers and other stakeholders in the Illinois workers’ compensation system and what you can do to be proactive. Topics include significant new decisions addressing issues in slip and fall cases, detours and the travelling employee, and vocational rehabilitation.

William A. Lowry, Esq., Shareholder
Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry, P.C.

Christopher J. Gibbons, Esq., Shareholder
Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry, P.C.
Executive Secretary, Illinois Self-Insurers Association

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Moderator:

Natalie J. Romo, Partner
Hennessy & Roach, P.C.

Panelists:

John Smolk
Manager of Workers’ Compensation Programs, United Airlines, Inc.
Member Medical Fee Advisory Board, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission

Sandy Saukas, RN, BSN, CCM, Director of Nursing
Bunch & Associates

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Sheila Denman, MA, MS, PT, Senior Vice President
ATI Worksite Solutions

Thad Franklin, Manager
Owens-Brockway Glass Container

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Kenneth D. Candido, M.D., Chairman and Professor Department of Anesthesiology
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center

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