Physicians in workers compensation

There are several signs that indicate a growing awareness of the importance of the physician in managing workers comp injuries. While many in the industry have paid lip service to the treating physician, their actions have been louder than words. Utilization review requirements, onerous communications protocols, invasive medical management procedures, requirements that physicians provide care at a discount to an already-low fee schedule are representative of the way physicians have been treated by the community.
Now, that is starting to change. Here’s the evidence.
–a major workers comp insurer is considering using a PPO network that includes physicians paid above the workers comp fee schedule. This despite their long-held and loudly trumpeted historical attachment to large discount-drive networks.
–another carrier is closely examining its data to identify the physicians with the best outcomes. The plan is to pursue a contractual relationship with those physicians that is predicated not on discounts but on results.
–large employers such as Supervalu have been working directly with certain providers in specific locations that they deem to deliver excellent care. Again, outcomes, not discounts, are the measure of quality.
–a large Longshore-Harbor Workers insurer has arrangements with many physicians where they pay a negotiated rate that is typically above the fee schedule. This gets them prompt, effective treatment, speeds communications, etc.
—Choice Medical Management, the fastest growing workers comp care management firm in the Southeast (also a client) has been recognizing the physicians of the year for several years. This year the number of physicians nominated and the volume of nominations have been significantly higher than in years past, forcing the company to adopt a more streamlined method of evaluating nominees.
This is great news, but a few items do not a trend make. The encouraging sign is that this growing recognition appears in large carriers and small carriers, in TPAs and at employers, among adjusters and execs.
What does this mean for you?
If you don’t have a physician-centric approach to managed care, it is time to start thinking about how you are working with the people who have the most influence over your claimants.