Attendance increases more than 350% in four years
By John Annarino, Chief Medical and Health Officer
Our 2019 Ohio Workers’ Compensation Medical & Health Symposium with its theme, Comprehensive Care for Injured Workers, begins today and runs through late Saturday afternoon.
We’re pleased that more than 800 health care practitioners, staff and legal professionals statewide will be attending our two-day event at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
We’ve been planning our multi-disciplinary event for about a year. We can’t wait to connect with our attendees and exhibitors! This year’s symposium offers continuing-education opportunities with credits, taught by well-respected experts on leading health and medical issues that affect us all – at work and at home.
Our 2019 symposium brings medical and health specialists together with legal professionals to learn how we can better solve far-reaching issues such as managing pain and opioids, chemical dependency and how to recognize traumatic brain injury symptoms before it’s too late. Improving collaboration and trust with our health-care community is another vital issue, as is chiropractic medicine’s role in workers’ comp and occupational medicine.
How we got started
The journey to today’s successful symposium began four years ago. I challenged our Medical and Health division’s leadership to plan an event for health care providers focusing on pain. My vision for this educational event came after a quarterly pharmacy meeting and an in-depth discussion on pain medication. Most of the original planning team members worked on our 2019 Medical & Health Symposium.
Our goal for the symposium – then and now – is to address health care issues facing Ohio’s injured workers. For example, we know the overuse of opioid medication affects Ohio’s workers and their families. To learn more, listen to Chris Hart, an Ohio pharmacist, tell his story of chemical dependency and recovery on Friday followed by a question-and-answer session on Saturday.
In addition, Saturday’s provider clinical education sessions discuss medical marijuana with Mark Pew, who is better known as the Rx Professor; Reggie Fields of the Ohio State Medical Association and Robert Stutman, one of America’s highest-profile Drug Enforcement Agency special agents. Former judge Jodi Debbrecht-Switalski reviews the paradigm of liabilities for the medical profession with the drug epidemic.
How far we’ve come
Debi Kroninger, our chief of medical operations, leads the symposium’s planning team. I’ve learned our first symposium in 2015 had 177 providers registered, with continuing education opportunities for a limited number of professions.
Today, we offer continuing education for attorneys, chiropractors, nurses, occupational and physical therapists, rehabilitation counselors (CCM, CDMS and CRC*), physicians and psychologists. Experts nationwide are learning about our innovative approaches and programs in caring for Ohio’s workers. For example, we already have eight speakers who are asking to present at next year’s event.
For increased learning opportunities, the symposium offers two educational tracks – the provider staff forum (Friday) and provider clinical education (Friday and Saturday). We feature the session Becoming a World-Class Carrier – BWC Medical Initiatives that will Take Us There in both tracks. Freddie Johnson, chief of medical services and compliance, along with Dr. Terry Welsh, chief medical officer, and Debi lead the session.
In addition, take time to network with the symposium’s exhibitors that include health care companies, state agencies, boards, associations and others.
How to contact us
Registration is free. If you have questions, call the provider contact center at 1-800-644-6292, option 0-3-0, or email medsymposium@bwc.state.oh.us.
Together, join us in our journey of providing innovative and quality health care for Ohio’s injured workers, their families and communities. We look forward to seeing you today and/or Saturday at our 2019 Medical & Health Symposium!
*Certified case manager, certified disability management specialist, certified rehabilitation counselor
BWC Blog 
I hope we have a convention like this on this year. The virtual convention is also a good idea to keep things on track.
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BWC Medical & Health Symposium is virtual this year, April 8 – 10. Registration coming soon! Be sure to check social media for the most recent updates on the event. We look forward to seeing you virtually this year! More information about the event can be found here: https://bit.ly/3oxVrN5.
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