Anecdotal information indicates the comp injury rate is heading up just a bit. In email conversations with Jim Greenwood, CEO of Concentra, Inc., the nation’s largest occ/urgent care clinic company, Jim sounded encouraged by the upward trend in the company’s growth, particularly in an increase in patient visits.
Concentra is seeing its strongest growth “in the Great Lakes (Chicago, Michigan,
Indiana, Ohio and Western PA), followed closely by the Mid Atlantic / New Jersey / Philadelphia.
Texas is also doing well, but “activity levels in the southeast, far southwest and west coast [are] best described as moderate on a relative basis.”
According to Greenwood, the growth in patient visits appears to be due to two primary factos: increased hiring in the transportation sector and greater market share for Concentra’s clinics.
Department of Labor employment data doesn’t necessarily correlate with Concentra’s results. For example, Texas employment was up by 43,600 in May, and California saw 28,300 net new jobs that month; TX correlates with Concentra results but California doesn’t. And, a spokesman for DoL noted: ” the worst hit states remain the housing bubble states and manufacturing states around the Great Lakes…”.
What does this mean for you?
If you’re in the work comp services business, a little good news. Employment is clearly nowhere near where anyone would like it to be, but it is improving, if ever so slowly.