L&I lays out phased 'Wixom' modernization to digitize workers' compensation operations

Shadia Yazbek, program project director for the workers' comp systems modernization (the "Wixom" program), told the committee the agency is resetting the program around a distributed, capability-based architecture rather than a single monolithic replacement. She said L&I has identified more than 100 legacy systems to be replaced or decommissioned and is organizing work in incremental waves: customer and employer self-service and automation in wave 1, claims modernization in wave 2, and enhanced analytics and operations in wave 3.

Yazbek described near-term deliverables: a return-mail digital assistant by the end of the year to automatically update addresses for roughly 5,000 weekly pieces of return mail; medical-bill entry automation targeted for Q1 2027 to reduce a four-day manual entry time to minutes; employer and worker portals to roll out through 2027 and 2028; and a provider portal targeted in mid-2028. She said an RFI for intelligent document processing and workflow routing attracted 35 vendor responses and that demonstrations are planned for late July or early August.

She emphasized program principles (simplicity, single source of truth, resiliency, and use of industry-tested solutions) and warned that the program depends on continued legislative funding; current funding covers work through June 2027. Yazbek said a revised program roadmap shows a finish around 2032 under the current approach and assumptions.

Committee members asked for program timelines, dashboards and budget transparencies; Yazbek said the agency will publish a program enhancements plan and share a Gantt-like view of milestones.

Ending: Agency plans vendor demos, a procurement plan, and regular updates to the advisory committee on program milestones and funding requests.