Behind the Scenes: GETTING TO KNOW THE NHADA-WCT TEAM AND WHY THEY ASK SO MANY QUESTIONS You have all been there: you have to make the dreaded call to NHADA-WCT to report an injury or get assistance with difficult questions. We always make the joke, “No one ever calls just to say hi.” The truth is we love the calls; we would rather hear from you early and help you through the process than later when the issues are more difficult to resolve. NHADA-WCT brings a unique team approach to the management of workers’ compensation claims. Our six team members have been here for between three and 37 years! Collectively that is a HUGE amount of experience! Each team member has a specific role and focus in the management of claims and needs to obtain and share information gathered from the injured worker, the employer, and the treating provider, just to name a few. As a result, there may be what seems like a barrage of questions coming from our office, and some may be quite similar. The process can sometimes appear quite daunting between forms to fill out, interview questions, payroll issues, time lost from work, and coming up with temporary alternative duties. The list seems to go on and on; we are here to help you through this process and save money, which can seem quite overwhelming at times. A brief reintroduction to each team member will help you understand their role in our claims management process and, again, why so many questions? Pete Sheffer — Director of Workers Compensation Pete is responsible for the dayto-day operation of the claims department and oversees the staff. As well as his management duties, he is responsible for the appropriate reserving of claims, reviewing all open claims every 30-60-90 days, and he maintains an active caseload of lost time and medical-only claims. Once a week, he runs a claims review meeting with the team to review all lost time claims, strategize return to work, obtain medical status updates, and allow the team to come together and keep everyone up to date. Even though the road adjuster does the recorded statements with the injured workers, Pete will also have his own set of questions for the employee and the employer. Pete also likes to answer questions as much as he likes to ask them; he is an expert at our drug screening policy, the NH Workers Compensation Statute, and can assist with your claims concerns. Pete’s email is psheffer@nhada.com. Marta Silakka — Nurse Case Manager Marta is a registered nurse, certified case manager and certified occupational health nurse specialist. She is responsible for the management of the medical portion D R I V E 14
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