Laura Michaels: Walking the Walk

Deconstructing Comp

Are you ready to meet Laura Michaels, MS, OT, PSHO, Occupational Health and Safety Manager for City of Palm Springs?
Yvonne and Rafael recently met Laura at the PARMA 2024 conference in Indian Wells, CA, and boy do we LOVE her! Shout out to Jennifer Johnson for putting together a beautiful dinner at PARMA that brought us together.
From the very first conversation, we knew we liked Laura. She possesses a very particular set of skills that combined make her one powerful risk and safety professional. She is getting it done with fantastic results in Palm Springs...Laura Michaels is walking the walk!
Tune in to hear Laura's unique perspective on the healthcare provider shortage, her educational background, her career as an occupational therapist, and how she shifted into a career in California workers' compensation and risk management.
She talks about several things important for entities to champion to get these kinds of results they are seeing in Palm Springs. It centers around building a culture where employees feel supported. This includes:
supportive reporting, supportive rehab, 90-day fast track process, nurse case management, getting to know your providers, knowing the kinds of providers you need for your worker population, building trust
Laura shares many pearls of wisdom in this episode:
"I can't deny and I can't delay, but I can approve!"
"Find ways to work within the workers' compensation system."
Perhaps one of our favorite quotes from Laura, "Workers' compensation does not need to be a contentious situation...put yourself in the patient's shoes."
#supportivereporting
#cultureofcaring
#fasttrack
#preauthorization
#outcomes
#validation
#curiosity
#litigation
#trust

¡Muchas Gracias! Thank you for listening. We would appreciate you sharing our podcast with your friends on social media. Find Yvonne and Rafael on Linked In or follow us on Twitter @deconstructcomp