During this 10-minute discussion, Associate Professor Newman Harris, Consultant Psychiatrist, Specialist Pain Medicine Physician and Consultant CMO at RGA Australia, and Gayle Kanchanapum, Executive Director, Global Claims, Value Added Specialist, discuss the presentation of chronic pain and advice for claims adjudicators managing claims arising from chronic pain conditions.
Chronic Pain – Body or Brain? - A dialogue with RGA’s Associate Professor Newman Harris and Gayle Kanchanapume.
Consultant Chief Medical Officer, RGA Australia
Associate Professor Newman L. Harris is an accredited medical specialist in both psychiatry and pain medicine, and he has had three years accredited training in rehabilitation medicine. After more than 20 years in busy private and public hospital practices, A/Prof. Harris joined RGA in September 2012. He is a senior visiting medical officer at the Pain Management and Research Institute of the University of Sydney, at the Royal North Shore Hospital, in Sydney, and senior staff specialist in pain medicine at the Gold Coast University Hospital.
Formerly the Chair of the Committee for Examinations of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FPMANZCA), A/Prof. Harris continues to serve on the Board of that organization. He has been an examiner for the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP). He is also a panel member for the NSW Medical Council & Medical Tribunal.
In addition to his experience in assessing and treating recipients of insurance benefits in the clinical setting, A/Prof. Harris has had considerable experience providing independent assessments for claims and medicolegal processes. He has been an accredited assessor of psychiatric permanent impairment, has been an Authorised Report Writer for the New South Wales (NSW) Victims of Crime Tribunal, and an accredited medical specialist (AMS) for the NSW Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Executive Director, Global Claims, Value Added Specialist
Gayle has more than 20 years of experience in both the Australian/New Zealand and Asian life claims markets, having held various claims roles since 1999, including case management, technical support, and leadership positions with both insurers and reinsurers. Gayle joined RGA in May 2017 and was appointed as Executive Director, Global Claims, Value Added Specialist in August 2020. Recognizing the pivotal role of the claims assessment process in the insurance value chain, Gayle focuses on projects and initiatives that develop the claims skillset and advance claims management capability.