Beth Otto Email and Phone Number

Identified, developed and executed innovative strategies for proactive absence management, active return to work, interactive accommodation along with effective claim management and cost containment solutions related to both workers compensation and short and long term disability claims. Continually analyzed trends in the portfolio and industry to take appropriate corrective action to conform to industry best practices and drive continuous improvement in programs. Identified, developed and implemented integration strategies with appropriate third party vendors to proactively utilize available resources. Developed, implemented and executed successful claim management and return to work program for all COVID cases in accordance with CDC guidelines.

Manage all programs surrounding the Leave of Absences for the subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company which includes Worker’s Compensation, Short Term Disability and FMLA. Administer the FMLA program to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations. Responsible for managing the interactive accommodation process including but not limited to medical conditions and religious requests. Produce and submit all OSHA recordkeeping information. Direct, monitor and evaluate the performance of third party claims administrators thru file reviews, audits and benchmarking. Provide direction to the broker and third party claims administrators on claim management expectations and execute strategies in place to manage those claims. Work closely with HR and Safety on Personnel matters such as return to work, accommodations and terminations.  Selected Achievements:* Established and implemented a “Three Strikes” program that reduced disability litigation and threatened ligation by 99%.* Implemented several work comp medical programs to reduce the medical spend by 20.8% or $2.2m over a 2 year period.* Developed and implemented complex claims management system that processes Short Term Disability payments and TAD offsets, and supports detailed claims management which include, FMLA, ADA, return to work program, claim strategies and accident investigation.* Successfully integrated two teams to handle all Leave of Absences for the subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company where we developed and implemented streamlined processes and removed redundancies for both the team and the customers.

Manage all aspects of the workers compensation claims management, including managing associated leave of absence for 17,000 employees, selected and managed third party vendors to assist with program enhancements and cost containment measures, responsible for all OSHA reporting, execution of worker’s compensation claims handling agreement with the third party administrator to ensure the handling of claims in a cost effective manner, participation in TPA contract renewal with the development of a performance guarantee and manage staff of five claims specialists.Selected Achievements:* Established and implemented a program for reducing the severity in strain claims that resulted in 17% decrease or $953,000 in reduced costs.* Coordinated and participated in focused worker’s compensation file reviews to reduce the average cost of claims by 12% (paid basis) or by 9.4% (incurred basis) from the previous year for a savings of $1m.* Developed, coordinated and participated in TPA audits which led to developing more effective claim handling procedures which reduced litigated claims by 6% or $1.1m.* Developed and implemented training and testing, including quarterly webinars, for all TPA adjusters and supervisors assigned to our account to ensure compliance with our special handling instructions.* Implemented a preferred pharmacy partner that includes a first-fill program as well as prescription cards for all employees actively treating under workers compensation claims.* Coordinated and participated in predictive modeling on claim files to ensure aggressive claim handling is taking place to reduce the costs of potentially large claims.

Administered the worker’s compensation program for The Schwan Food Company, including negotiating and managing relationships with workers compensation insurers, monitoring claims, developing and administering return to work programs, rehabilitation management, maintaining files, providing necessary support for defense of claims, and managing workers compensation claims for multiple jurisdictions from date of injury to claims closure.Selected Achievements* Fostered a successful partnership which allowed for a smooth transition of the worker’s compensation claims management from Schwan’s Global Supply Chain facilities to the Worker’s Compensation team in Marshall.* Assisted Schwan’s Global Supply Chain Marshall Complex in reaching a million man hours of no lost time injuries.* Assisted Schwan’s Global Supply Chain Houston in obtaining their first gain sharing bonus in three years based on no lost time work comp claims. * Developed and implemented formal guidelines for properly tracking OSHA recordable incidents.* Reduction of lost time days by 50% over a 3 year period.

Administered the worker’s compensation program for The Schwan Food Company, including negotiating and managing relationships with workers compensation insurers, monitoring claims, developing and administering return to work programs, rehabilitation management, maintaining files, providing necessary support for defense of claims, and managing workers compensation claims for multiple jurisdictions from date of injury to claims closure.

Led and supervised the CeRT Routing and Scheduling team, which was responsible for routing and scheduling solutions for daily routes. Responsible for the direct supervision of 11 employees. Responsible for scheduling and prioritizing work load for the team. Developed and implemented new processes for projects so they could be transferred to the correct departments

Direct supervision of 13 employees. Overall responsibility for minimizing the financial impact of all claims on the company, including workers compensation, disability claims and all other leaves of absence. Responsible for conducting trend analysis and for providing regularly scheduled communication of financial impact of claims and benefit costs to senior management.