Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews Raji H. Chadarevian, Executive Director, Actuarial Research , the National Council of Compensation Insurance, or NCCI, about opioid use and related risks for injured workers. Raji and Justin talk about the statistics. The good news is that through the joint efforts of insurers, the NCCI, prescribing physicians, pharmacies, and employers, the utilization of opioids for pain management in injured workers, while appropriate in some cases, has decreased sharply in the last eight years, and continuing efforts to find alternative pain management systems should keep that trend going.   Listen in for more information about recovery awareness, and what your company can do to help injured workers avoid opioid addiction. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS. [:14] RISKWORLD 2025 will take place in Chicago, Illinois from May 4th through May 7th. The call for submissions is now open through August 27th. A link to the submission form is in this episode’s show notes. [:30] Virtual Workshops! Applying and Integrating ERM is back and it will be hosted by Elise Farnham on September 25th and 25th and also on December 4th and 5th. [:56] On August 29th, Pat Saporito returns to discuss Optimizing Risk Management with Artificial Intelligence. [1:05] On October 9th and 10th, Chris Hansen returns to deliver Fundamentals of Insurance. Other dates for the Fall and the Winter are available on the virtual workshops calendar at RIMS.org/virtualworkshops. [1:24] RIMS-CRMP Prep Courses! On September 10th and 11th, the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep will be held with NAIT. There is another RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on September 12th and 13th. [1:38] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes. [1:53] Events! We’ve got the DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event happening on September 19th in Irving, Texas. Learn more about that event in Episode 299, which features an interview with the Texas State Office of Risk Management. [2:11] Also on September 19th is the RIMS Chicago Chapter’s Chicagoland Risk Forum 2024. Register at ChicagolandRiskForum.org. [2:21] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register. [2:33] Registration is also open for the RIMS Western Regional, which will be held from September 29th through October 1st at the Sun River Resort in Oregon. Register at RIMSWesternRegional.com. [2:48] We want you to join us in Boston on November 18th and 19th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2024. The agenda is live. The keynote will be announced soon. We want to see you there! A link is in this episode’s show notes. [3:04] The nominations are now open for the RIMS ERM Award of Distinction 2024. Nominations are due August 30th. A link to the nomination form is in this episode’s show notes. [3:16] If you or someone you know manages an ERM program that delivers the goods, we want to hear about it. A link is in this episode’s show notes. All RIMS regional conference information can be found on the Events page at RIMS.org. [3:32] The Interview! With National Recovery Month in September, and National Opioid Awareness Day, September 21st, I wanted to shine a light on opioid addiction and Workers’ Compensation claims with new data about opioid abuse and how it impacts the workplace. [4:05] This is a critical risk and I wanted to speak with someone who can tell the story about the data, so I reached out to Raji Chadarevian, the Executive Director for Actuarial Research  at the National Council of Compensation Insurance, or NCCI. [4:24] He has the insight and perspective on the new