Katherine Nelson just joined ATF Medical as Vice President of National Sales. She brings 30+ years of experience in workers’ comp ancillary services sales and account management. She started out in workers’ comp as a subrogation adjuster and later as a lost-time adjuster.

Katherine’s background spans nearly all phases of ancillary services. Most recently she was Director of National Accounts for The IMA Group, which provides case management and independent medical exam (IME) services. Previously she was with CompAlliance and its related CompDME and CompPBM companies, which among other things, manage catastrophic and post-acute care for injured workers.

Earlier, she was an Executive Vice President and an owner in Tampa-based Priority Care Solutions, where Jim Rogalsky was also an owner. She previously worked for Cypress Care, a pharmacy benefit manager that was acquired by Healthcare Solutions and later Optum. And she also worked for TechHealth, a specialized cost-containment company that is now part of OneCall.

But enough about the career history, here’s a Q&A to give you a better sense of our new colleague.

You’ve had a strong career in workers’ comp. What do you like about it?

I find satisfaction in being able to leverage my knowledge and skills to assist others. It’s fulfilling to know that I’m helping people navigate this complex industry and providing support and solutions that make a difference.

How did being an adjuster help you move into sales?

I learned how adjusters think as well as what they do. I mean, you’re an investigator and a medical person; there are so many roles adjusters play. This knowledge and experience help me anticipate what an adjuster might ask before they have to ask it. I understand and speak their language.

Trust is huge in this industry and memories are long. You need a good work ethic and you’ve got to take responsibility if things go wrong.

Staying top of mind is still important, too. It just got harder when people left the office to work from home. We had to get more creative. During the early months of COVID, I sent care packages with toilet paper, masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, and a little fob for pushing elevator and other buttons to adjusters’ homes.

Everyone was doing Zoom meetings and webinars, so you had to stand out. I once did a “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” style webinar, stopping every few minutes to ask questions like “name five of our DME products.” Interactivity is key to a good presentation.

What do you like about the industry?

The relationships! So many of my clients and colleagues have become my closest friends. It’s a small industry and it’s easy to get to know people.

Also, it’s never boring. I started in subrogation and had to learn the legalities and investigative side of things. You can take two incidents with nearly identical injuries and see two cases veer in opposite directions.

It’s rewarding to help an injured worker return to some form of normalcy, I mean, life is never the same for a worker with a catastrophic injury. But some workers take the view that their life is not over and are motivated to try to get back to enjoying activities. And now there are so many marathons, competitions, all-terrain vehicles, and other advances that give them opportunities they just didn’t have years ago. Rehab technology is always progressing, too. There are new products, new features and lots of upgrades every year. Standing wheelchairs were a real breakthrough.

You live in Las Vegas, so do you see a lot of shows and hit the casinos?

My husband and I see many shows and especially the Cirque de Solei performances, but because we’ve been here so long, we tend to avoid the strip when we can.

What do you like to do for fun? Any interesting hobbies?

We have two grown children to visit, one in California and the other in Oklahoma, and we enjoy cruises – really anything water-related, jet skis included.

But my real hobby has been acting! Growing up, I was involved in skits at church and later became head of the drama department. And when I lived in California, I was involved in murder mystery dinner theater for several years. The mystery changed every five months or so between rehearsals and performances on Friday and Saturday so that and working full-time kept me busy.

Have you appeared in any movies we might have seen?

I was in Semi-Pro with Will Farrell, Moneyball with Brad Pitt, and Angels in the Outfield with Danny Glover; these are some. (Anyone else sense a sports theme, here?)

Katherine should fit in very well at ATF Medical. To welcome her, find out if she’s related to our Co-Founder Susan Nelson or learn if Brad Pitt is as handsome in person as on-screen, email her at knelson@atfmedical.com