The COTS team recently hosted emergency management professionals from Lithuania to discuss emergency preparedness and response.

The Grove City Rotary Club approached COTS leaders about hosting an information-sharing session with the experts as part of their sponsorship of the Open World program with the US Congressional Office of International Leadership (COIL). Open World brings emerging leaders from Eurasia to the United States to engage with their professional counterparts. 

On Wednesday, May 14, COTS and CMAA leaders, along with representative from other central Ohio agencies, gathered at the COTS office to share best practices in emergency preparedness and response and learned a few tips from them. 

“It was an incredible opportunity to make new friends and learn from one another on the life-saving strategies deployed in emergencies,” said Sherri Kovach, COTS president.

This isn’t the first time COTS has worked with an international delegation through this program. In 2019, the COTS board and several partners met with the Ukrainian Minister of Health and his team to share COTS regional work and how a large urban and rural healthcare coalition operates.

Advocacy Alert: Emergency Preparedness Funding at Risk
President Trump's federal budget eliminates funding for the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP), the primary source of funding for health care preparedness and response. COTS coordinates emergency preparedness and response for 36 of Ohio's 88 counties for the Ohio Department of Health, which administers the HPP in Ohio. COTS does this in collaboration with fellow preparedness experts in Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, Dayton, and Cincinnati. The complete elimination of this program is an existential threat to the safety of all Ohioans. Learn more about the proposed cuts and how the steps you can take to alert your representatives about this issue in this advocacy alert: Hospital Preparedness Program – Funding at Risk.

The new ADAMH Franklin County Crisis Care Center is set to open this summer with proud support from the Columbus Medical Association Foundation.

CMAA CEO Tracy Davidson joined the ADAMH Board, Franklin County Commissioners, Columbus city leaders, and additional partners and funders to celebrate the center at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in Franklinton on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. The CMA Foundation was part of the public/private partnership that funded the $60 million facility by providing a grant of $500,000.

Former CMA CEO Dr. Robert Falcone was deeply involved from the beginning in ensuring central Ohioans have access to efficient mental health resources. He was a project team leader on the Franklin County Task Force on the Psychiatric Crisis and Emergency System (PCES) convened to strategize ways to improve psychiatric emergency services in Franklin County. In 2016, the task force concluded the county needed a comprehensive, collaborative system of crisis care for individuals experiencing mental health and/or addiction emergencies. From that recommendation came years of planning and fundraising to build the Franklin County Crisis Care Center. Dr. Falcone later served on the planning board for the facility and was able to tour the construction site in 2024.

The center will provide 24/7 services for all adults dealing with mental health or addiction issues in Franklin County. Two observation units will open this summer with additional services opening in phases over the next two years. By 2027, the site will include an urgent care, family resource center, and offer long-term support for people needing extended treatment. More information on the Crisis Care Center can be found on their website.

Open Enrollment for MCO selection lasts through Friday, May 23. It is an opportunity for Ohio employers that have state-funded workers’ compensation coverage to select an important resource to organize and resolve workplace injuries. Sedgwick Managed Care Ohio is a key partner for our workers’ compensation program and happens to be Ohio’s largest MCO – by far – in both claims managed and employers served.1

Recordkeeping and documentation

One of the roles of an MCO is to collect the essential data elements of a workplace injury to initiate a workers’ compensation claim. Depending on the approach to collecting and arranging this information, the MCO can be an excellent warehousing partner for injury-related data.

Sedgwick MCO provides clients a series of value-added reports designed to facilitate record keeping obligations of OSHA and PERRP. Many report options include an ongoing tally of lost workdays associated with each claim, as well as the number of modified duty workdays. Access to this information on a monthly, quarterly and especially an annual basis (early January) can help employers complete their OSHA 300 and PERRP posting that is due each February.

MCOs should also be able to account for additional datapoints to help determine whether a workers’ compensation claim is OSHA-recordable. For example, if medications are prescribed in the treatment of a workplace injury, it may be OSHA recordable despite having incurred no lost or modified workdays. Similarly, if treatment for an injury includes services that exceed what is considered first-aid in nature, the injury may also be recordable despite involving no lost time. An example of this would be a laceration that involves stitches, but the employee returns to work immediately. Referencing medical billing codes to identify specific covered treatments can be a simple way to gather information that simplifies the OSHA and PERRP reporting process.

Injury reporting

The claim filing process depends on information from multiple parties, including the injured employee and the treating physician. But Sedgwick MCO encourages employers to take action as quickly as possible after a workplace incident to control this vital early stage of the process. Establishing post-injury protocols that include thorough documentation of the incident, as well as compiling information required by BWC, can accelerate a sound claim allowance decision. Early clarity on the nature of incident and injury can help frame the scope of the claim and define the medical conditions that are included for treatment.

The First Report of Injury (FROI) is the standard BWC form that accommodates the required information and typically initiates a new claim. Many employers keep the FROI on-hand to serve as an incident report. Sedgwick Managed Care Ohio will provide clients with an Injury Reporting Packet, which can include the FROI and other forms and information to help guide both the employer and the injured employee through the claim process.

Many employers have developed an incident report that collects much of the information required for the workers’ compensation claim. Consider modifications to your incident report that may facilitate a more efficient claim filing process. One of the best steps an employer can take to promote speed and accuracy in claim filing is to have an incident report completed quickly and sent directly to the managed care organization.

Contact Sedgwick Managed Care Ohio

We encourage you to review objective data on the MCO Report Card to evaluate MCO performance metrics. You will find that Sedgwick excels in areas that make a difference for Ohio employers, and brings a great deal of value, simplicity, and efficiency to the claim process. If you feel there is room for improvement with your organization’s injury management program, or if you can use assistance organizing data for OSHA recording, Sedgwick MCO can help. Every work environment is different, and Sedgwick can talk through your circumstances to build a process that works for you and your employees. Visit Sedgwick MCO online to explore performance metrics and service features, or reach out directly at ClientServices@Sedgwickmco.com.