The RxProfessor

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical I had the privilege of being on a panel with Lisa Anne Bickford (Director of Government Relations, Coventry) and Don Lipsy (AVP, Managed Care Government Relations, Sedgwick) at the National Workers’ Compensation and Disability virtual conference on October 21. Our session was entitled “Workers’ Comp Regulatory and Legislative… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical I have a hero. Her name is Justine. She is the daughter of a former colleague of mine. Her story is one of overcoming and paying forward. In other words, a “success story”. We are surrounded by heartbreaking stories (“One family loses two sons to opioid epidemic: It’s… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical Having been in the professional workplace since 1980 and in workers’ compensation since 1990, I have observed a few things about people. They’re all different (thanks, Captain Obvious). Some people are competent at their assigned tasks and some are not. Some people’s attitude about their work, workplace, colleagues… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical An article in the June 2020 edition of CLM Magazine entitled “Be Kind and Keep It Simple” piqued my interest in the success of an advocacy program at Fidelity National Financial in Jacksonville, FL. Specifically, the nationwide director of safety and claims management who was responsible for envisioning… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical In recognition that September is international Pain Awareness Month (“#MyPainPlan focuses on the vital importance of an individualized, multidisciplinary, multimodal approach to pain care”), I am republishing my August 3, 2017 LinkedIn blogpost entitled “Appropriate, Not Zero, Opioids.” It is as relevant and true on September 21, 2020… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical COVID-19 has obviously had a dramatic impact on our country – in fact, the entire planet. It seemingly has touched every aspect of every person’s life and livelihood, some more than others. The trickledown effect has been something unimaginable even for “black swan” scenarios. While much of the… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical I am not a creature of habit. That is both a positive (I adapt well to a changing environment) and a negative (there is very little that I do automatically). So you can imagine what it must be like when every day is almost exactly the same as… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical I was pleased to lead the ideation and execution of Preferred Medical’s virtual 5K from June 25 through July 2. It was the first time either the company or myself had attempted such an event and it certainly was a learning experience (we will heed those lessons for… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical I had the privilege of being on the faculty of the International Chronic Pain Virtual Summit that was held on June 18-19, 2020. It was an early start for me in Atlanta each day (4:00am Eastern Daylight Time) but very much worth the investment as every speaker had a deep and… [Read more]

By Mark Pew, Senior VP, Preferred Medical The costs of COVID-19 are obvious to those paying attention: more than 122,000 deaths (as of June 22), a historic rise in mental health problems (depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide), more than 45 million newly unemployed people (as of June 18), and a 52.8 percent… [Read more]