Session descriptions - 2026 Texas Workers' Compensation Conference

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**Day 1**
11:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.	Pre-conference session: Workers' Comp 101, Kelly Verootis - DWC
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.	Registration
12:30 p.m. –12:40 p.m.	Opening remarks and welcome Texas Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Jeff Nelson
12:40 p.m. – 1:40 p.m.	General session: Taking Care of Injured Employees (and Your Budget): Why the "Nice" Claims Cost Less, Melissa Steger - WorkCompCollege.com, Stuart Colburn - Downs & Stanford What if the most effective way to control workers’ compensation costs wasn’t tougher denials, but better care? This high-energy, interactive session flips a long-standing myth in Texas workers’ compensation on its head: that being tough on injured employees saves money. In reality, the opposite is usually true. Claims handled with urgency, respect, and common sense resolve faster, cost less, and create far fewer disputes. This session blends legal insight, real claim stories, and practical strategies that work in the real world, not just on paper. Through audience participation, live claim scenarios, and playful back-and-forth between a defense attorney and a system insider, attendees will see exactly where claims go off the rails and how small changes in communication, timing, and mindset can dramatically reduce costs. Expect movement, participation, and plenty of “aha” moments. You’ll leave with clear, usable ideas you can apply immediately. No policy manuals required.
1:40 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.	Break
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.	Preparing WCI Data to Prevent Future Claims, John DeLaHunt - The University of Texas at San Antonio There are two systematic aggregators of worker injury data — the OSHA 300 log and WCI. Neither of these are intrinsically designed to create useful inputs into the lessons-learned process, leaving safety managers with a set of bad choices. The OSHA 300 log is not going to change, so safety managers can either elect not to use past experience to affect the current workplace safety context, they can keep a second set of records, or they can adjust the WCI record set so that it is useful. This presentation will summarize how neither the OSHA 300 Log nor default WCI data are useful in driving injury and loss prevention outcomes, and what types of data are helpful to safety managers for that purpose. We will cover several risk recognition and assessment tools (including machine learning large language models), and some risk mitigation tools, and highlight where WCI data — if expanded — could really make a difference in loss prevention. Building Blocks of Ethics, Anastasia Settle - Carlisle Medical This is a session reviews ethics and the core characteristics that work together to build a strong ethical populace. The course dives into specific ways that the workers’ compensation industry can become corrupted as well as counterpoints where people have succeeded in providing ethical care and the benefit that this can provide — both financially and physically.
3:00 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.	Break
3:20 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.	Navigating EDI Compliance, Martha Luevano - DWC This training provides attendees with an independent assessment of the low-cost tools employers (and their workers’ compensations carriers) can use to help contain costs while engaging with their injured employee through this very difficult time. Attendees of this session will leave with actionable strategies for implementing these tools, understanding compliance requirements, and measuring program effectiveness through key metrics. Provider Fraud Schemes and Trends, Gordon Oard, Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Co. This presentation will focus on current workers' compensation provider fraud trends. The discussion will cover the use and current impact of AI; electronic medical record systems; pharmaceutical dispensing schemes; and how private equity firms are influencing, changing, and exercising control of medical practices and generating large profits from the system.
4:20 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.	Welcome reception

Day 2
8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.	Registration and continental breakfast
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.	General session: Regulator Roundtable: Key Updates from DWC, Jeff Nelson - DWC, Allen Craddock - DWC, Erica De La Cruz - DWC, Mary Landrum - DWC Join some of DWC’s executive staff for our Regulator Roundtable, a chance to discuss key updates and initiatives from DWC.
9:30 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.	Break
9:50 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.	The Rise of Boutique Pharmaceuticals, Julie Black - MyMatrixx by Evernorth, Courtney Deck - MyMatrixx by Evernorth Twenty years ago, the focus of pharmaceutical companies was on creating new and novel medication therapies to treat existing conditions such as hypertension, pain, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Over the last decade, pharmaceutical companies are now expanding their portfolio beyond novel medications by creating 'boutique' drugs. These boutique formulations may be a combination of two existing drugs (hello, Duexis), a new strength of an existing drug (ibuprofen 300 mg?), or a new way to deliver an existing drug (meloxicam 15 mg tablets vs. 10 mg capsules). As you may expect, boutique medications also come at a high cost and yet they offer little to no additional therapeutic value. Additionally, in worker's compensation, state formularies rarely address medications at the strength level, so boutique medications are allowed without prior review from a clinical resource when lower cost, equally effective medications are available. This session reviews the challenges of managing these drugs. AMA Guides in Practice: How Rating Outcomes Differ Between the 4th and 6th Editions, Dr. Mark Melhorn - Mid-America Orthopedics This session will review the historical development of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. It will examine how the Guides evolved from more descriptive and examiner-dependent approaches toward increasingly structured, diagnosis-based, and evidence-informed systems. Particular attention will be given to the major conceptual, methodological, and practical differences among them. The session will address how these changes affected the physician’s role, the structure of the impairment evaluation, the treatment of diagnosis and function, and the overall consistency and reproducibility of ratings. The presentation will also explore the practical significance of these edition changes for physicians, attorneys, adjudicators, and others involved in impairment-based decision-making. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of how historical changes in the Guides continue to influence present-day practice, including the challenges that arise when different editions remain relevant in different jurisdictions. The overall goal is to provide a comparative and practical framework that helps attendees better understand the progression of the AMA impairment systems, recognize the key differences among editions, and apply that knowledge to improve the accuracy, clarity, and supportability of impairment evaluations.
10:50 a.m. – 11:10 a.m.	Break
11:10 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.	Reel Ethics: Exploring Behavioral Boundaries in Workers' Compensation, Kara Mace - DWC, John Molinar - Hermes Law PC, Dan LaBruyere - DWC, Fabiola Flores - Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, Inc. Ethical challenges in workers’ compensation rarely announce themselves at the beginning of a claim. They arise in the middle, when facts change, pressure increases, and the right course of action is unclear. This session brings these moments to life through short clips from film and television that reflect the real-world dilemmas faced by claims professionals. In an interactive, Table Topics-style format, panelists from carrier, claimant, and regulatory perspectives will respond to scenarios involving shifting narratives, expert credibility, investigative boundaries, workplace complaints, and professional communication. The focus is not just on what the rules say, but on how ethical decisions are made in real time. This session invites attendees to examine their own decision-making and consider the role each participant plays in maintaining fairness, professionalism, and trust in the workers’ compensation system. AMA Guides in Practice: How Rating Outcomes Differ Between the 4th and 6th Editions, Dr. Mark Melhorn - Mid-America Orthopedics (REPEAT) This session will review the historical development of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. It will examine how the Guides evolved from more descriptive and examiner-dependent approaches toward increasingly structured, diagnosis-based, and evidence-informed systems. Particular attention will be given to the major conceptual, methodological, and practical differences among them. The session will address how these changes affected the physician’s role, the structure of the impairment evaluation, the treatment of diagnosis and function, and the overall consistency and reproducibility of ratings. The presentation will also explore the practical significance of these edition changes for physicians, attorneys, adjudicators, and others involved in impairment-based decision-making. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of how historical changes in the Guides continue to influence present-day practice, including the challenges that arise when different editions remain relevant in different jurisdictions. The overall goal is to provide a comparative and practical framework that helps attendees better understand the progression of the AMA impairment systems, recognize the key differences among editions, and apply that knowledge to improve the accuracy, clarity, and supportability of impairment evaluations.
12:10 p.m. – 1:10 p.m.	Lunch
1:10 p.m. – 1:40 p.m.	Dessert with vendors (Exhibit Hall)
1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.	Legislative and Case Law Update, Jennifer Hopens - DWC, Kate Sidora - DWC This presentation gives attendees insight into the Texas legislative process and DWC’s role during a legislative session. The presentation focuses on key milestones for the upcoming 90th Texas Legislature and workers’ compensation topics likely to come up during the legislative session. This presentation also covers significant court decisions and ongoing litigation that may shape the operations of DWC or the responsibilities of system participants. Navigating EDI Compliance, Martha Luevano - DWC (REPEAT) This training provides attendees with an independent assessment of the low-cost tools employers (and their workers’ compensations carriers) can use to help contain costs while engaging with their injured employee through this very difficult time. Attendees of this session will leave with actionable strategies for implementing these tools, understanding compliance requirements, and measuring program effectiveness through key metrics.
2:45 p.m. – 3:05 p.m.	Break
3:05 p.m. – 4:05 p.m.	All About OSHA: Mission, Enforcement, Inspection Process, Outreach, Monica Camacho - OSHA This session will teach about the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA)’s mission, provide insights into recent local OSHA enforcement actions, explain to employers and employees OSHA's inspection process, and provide practical resources to help recognize hazards and reduce or eliminate workplace injuries and illnesses. Top Ten Subrogation Mistakes Workers' Compensation Carriers Should Avoid, Matthew Greider - Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, Gary Wickert - Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes,” Oscar Wilde famously said. Across all lines of insurance, our mistakes and failures are gifts and guideposts in our learning and growth as insurance industry members. But, we can only take advantage of them if we recognize them. Join us as we discuss ways to avoid repeating the ten mistakes most costly and commonly committed in the fast-growing world of workers’ comp insurance subrogation.