Insurance Business America Taps “Women Vanguards” on Annual List
June 29, 2017 – Chicago, IL – Rising Medical Solutions vice president and study program director Rachel Fikes has been named to Insurance Business America’s Elite Women annual listing which recognizes 125 women “leaders and influencers who are shaping a more diverse insurance industry.”
A 20-year communications and insurance services veteran, Fikes leads Rising’s Workers’ Compensation Benchmarking Study – an ambitious national research program she piloted from infancy. Now entering its fifth year, the study is the only large-scale survey of claims leaders in the industry.
Out of some 5,000 insurer, TPA, and employer professionals who fill claims leadership positions in workers’ compensation, nearly 1,200 of them have contributed their collective intelligence to the study’s research platform under Fikes’ guidance. Their insights have quantified front burner industry challenges and opportunities, such as measuring key performance indicators of success, training and retaining talented staffs, transitioning from process management to outcome management models, and adopting a claims advocacy approach to engaging injured workers.
With its potent method of validating how and what higher performing claims organizations are doing compared to industry peers, Fikes steers the research program to keep pace with the industry as it strives to do ever better in managing claims.
“My interest in research and discovery really stems from my psychology studies in college,” says Fikes. “I feel very fortunate to continue learning each day from claims executives who navigate the vast complexities of workers’ compensation. They have generously collaborated with the study in a joint investigation of both challenges and solutions.”
Among those honored with Fikes are:
- Faye Sahai, Global Head of Technology & Innovation, AIG
- Trudy Hardin, Senior Vice President, Aon Risk Solutions
- Bonnie Boon, Executive Vice President, Arthur J. Gallagher
- Marina Gass, Vice President, Claims, Axis Re
- Danielle Lisenbey, President & CEO, Broadspire Services
- Debbie Michel, Executive Vice President & General Manager, National Insurance Casualty Unit, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group
- Patricia Hagemann, Chief Administrative Officer, Marsh
- Jill Beggs, Head of New Strategic Markets, Munich Reinsurance America
- Gina Papush, Chief Data & Analytics Officer, QBE Group
- Cyndee Morton, Senior Vice President of Operations, Safety National
- Elizabeth Francy Demaret, Executive Vice President, Carrier & International Strategic Development, Sedgwick
- Kathleen Lyons, Vice President of Property & Casualty Business Management, Swiss Re America
- Marlyss Gage, Executive Vice President & Chief Underwriting Officer, Travelers
- Mary Ceko, Chief Claims Officer, Vela Insurance Services
- Suzanne O’Keefe, Executive Vice President, Wells Fargo Insurance
- Anne Pullum, Chief Administrative Officer & Head of Strategy & Innovation, Willis Towers Watson
- Michele Sansone, President, North America Property, XL Catlin
- Jody Moses, President, Public Entity Division, York Insurance Services
- Lori Bailey, Global Head of Cyber Risk, Zurich Insurance Group
To read Fikes’ full profile and the entire Elite Women listing, download Insurance Business America’s June edition here.
About Rising Medical Solutions
Rising Medical Solutions is a national medical-financial solutions firm that provides medical cost containment and medical care management services to the workers’ compensation, auto, liability and group health markets.