Page 6 - January 2021 South Florida Hospital News

2021... A LOOK AHEAD...2021... A LOOK AHEAD...2021... A LOOK AHEAD...

Even with Pandemic, Workers’ Compensation Rates

to be Lower in 2021

BY VANESSA ORR ers have made over the last few age and a number of other factors, every worker claim.
years. “The number of claims other line of insurance is trending While workers’ compensation claims
On Jan. 1, 2021, the have been affected by the fact upwards,” said Murphy. “This is the one related to COVID had dropped off 20 per-
order by Florida Insur - that education and technology piece of good news, especially for medical cent between the second and third quarter,
ance Commissioner are creating safer workplaces, practices and physicians.” it recently began rising again—and that
David Altmaier approv- and that the economy has seen a At this point, COVID hasn’t entered too trend is expected to continue.
ing the statewide aver- long-term shift from manufac- far into the equation, despite the fact that “At the beginning, there wasn’t a lot
age reduction of 6.6 per- turing to service industries,” Florida ranks in the top three states in known about the virus, so we saw a big
cent in workers’ com- said Murphy. COVID-related claims, according to a uptick in claims from the medical world,”
pensation rates will take While rates were expected to report from the NCCI. said Murphy. “As people learned more
effect. This is good news surge as a result of the Florida “In Florida, of every 100,000 workers’ about it and put more safety measures in
for medical practices, as Supreme Court’s overturning compensation claims reported, 300 are place, those numbers decreased.
well as any business in Tom Murphy the Castellanos decision, allow- COVID-related,” said Murphy, adding that “However, we’re expecting to see anoth-
Florida, since it’s likely ing lawyers to charge higher the report doesn’t say how many of these er uptick as more of the general popula-
the only insurance rate discount that they fees in workers’ compensation cases, that claims have been accepted as workers’ tion gets sick and goes into hospitals need-
will see in the coming year. increase did not materialize. compensation claims. ing care,” he continued. “That will trickle
“The National Council on Compen - “The shift in workplace safety put a Not surprisingly, 85 percent of COVID- down to providers, who will see an
sation Insurance (NCCI), which is the damper on any rate increases when it related claims are women, according to increase in the incidence of illness and
governing body for all workers’ compen- came to the system having to make larger Murphy. transmission.”
sation insurance throughout the country, payments to attorneys on claims; they “It makes sense; the vast majority of While Murphy doesn’t expect changes
reviewed the rates and determined that seem to be cancelling each other out at employees in healthcare world are in workers’ compensation rates for the
there should be a 5.7 percent reduction,” this point,” said Murphy. women, including nurses, aides, and next year, the industry is constantly in
explained Medical Malpractice and Over the past four years, workers’ com- home healthcare workers,” he explained. flux.
Workers’ Compensation Specialist Tom pensation rates have continued this down- “This is where people are exposed to the “It’s an interesting dynamic; there’s an
Murphy at Danna-Gracey, the largest inde- ward trend, resulting in more than a 30 virus.” uptick in claims related to COVID, but a
pendent medical malpractice insurance percent decrease. According to the report, for the first six downtick in overall injured workers,” he
agency in Florida “However, each state “It’s currently the only place rates are months of the pandemic, 20 percent of said. “Because there are currently millions
determines its own reduction or increase, going down,” said Murphy, adding that medical claims required inpatient hospital out of work, the workers’ compensation
and based on the documentation, employer liability, property and casualty, stays, and 19 percent of those patients system in general is seeing fewer reported
Commissioner Altmaier decided that it malpractice, cyber professional liability, required admission into intensive care. claims, so rates are lower.
should be slightly higher.” homeowners and auto insurance rates are “The average worker admitted to the “That’s at least a little good news with all
This decision is based on a number of all trending upward. ICU stayed for 11.5 days compared to doom and gloom going on; a little light at
factors, including how much profit work- “Because of bigger judgments made in non-intensive care patients averaging 7- the end of tunnel for medical practices and
ers’ compensation carriers and underwrit- lawsuits, the shrinking market for cover- day stays,” said Murphy, adding that the physicians,” he added.
average ICU visit cost $67,000, compared
to $38,000 for non-ICU care. For more information, contact Tom
Workers pursuing COVID-19 claims
Broward Health Medical Center Launches had an average age of 46 years old, which Murphy or Matt Gracey at 800-966-2120 or
visit www.dannagracey.com.
is six years older than the average injured
Kidney Transplant Program

The South Florida Transplant Center at Broward Health Medical Center has been
approved for kidney transplants by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS). Around the Region… Around
The hospital will be offering patients kidney transplants from living donors or a
deceased donor in addition to combined liver/kidney transplants.
“We are proud to expand our critical transplant services to include kidney trans-
plants,” said Heather Havericak, CEO of Broward Health Medical Center. “As a nation- VA Sunshine Healthcare Network
ally recognized provider of transplant care, the South Florida Transplant Center is
committed to excellence and offering advanced level clinical care for the needs of our Announces New Medical
transplant patients and their families.”
The kidney transplant program will be led by transplant nephrologist Muhammad Center Director
Mustafa, M.D., and abdominal transplant and hepatobiliary surgeon Joshua J. Shaw,
M.D., who have both successfully performed hundreds of kidney transplants.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is pleased to
announce the appointment of Cory Price as the new direc-
tor of the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center.
Price has served as the Interim Director at the West
Palm Beach VA Medical Center since January 2020. He
previously served as the Associate Director for the Cory Price
Orlando VA Medical Center as well as the Assistant
Director for the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System. He began his federal government
career more than 15 years ago as a commissioned Medical Service Corps Officer in
the U.S. Army, where he oversaw helicopter ambulance employment and operations
for nearly 12 years.
Price has an undergraduate degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,
where he majored in Aeronautical Science and obtained his Commercial Pilot certifi-
cation. His graduate degree is in Healthcare Administration from Webster University.
Price holds a graduate degree in Healthcare Administration from Webster University
and he is also Board Certified in Healthcare Management as a Fellow of the American
College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).

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6 January 2021 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News