In Montana this week to deliver the keynote at the annual Governor’s Workers Comp Conference and get in a good bit of hiking in the mountains around Big Sky as well.
Truth be told, I hadn’t been tracking goings-on in the Big Sky state’s workers comp system, but in prepping for the conference, I learned a good deal.
MT has some state-specific challenges; doctors can be few and far between in many areas, making direction of care a significant challenge. The culture is very labor-friendly which can lead to courts confusing over-treatment with good care. The growth in the energy sector in eastern Montana is adding jobs with potential for higher-severity injuries.
Then there are the similarities; the over-prescribing of opioids is likely as big a problem here as in most states.
Over the last couple years, a lot of progress has been made:
– hired a Medical Director for the Department of Labor and Industry’s Workplace Relations Division (equivalent to the work comp division in other states)
– developed and implemented medical treatment guidelines based on a combination of Colorado and ACOEM
– enabled employer direction of injured workers to specific physicians
– allowed payers to close some claims after sixty months (there’s a lot of detail here, but suffice it to say this was a big problem in MT)
While it is still too early to fully understand the impact of these changes, there’s no doubt these reforms will help improve care while reducing employers’ and taxpayers’ costs.
And Montana has been smart enough to ban physician dispensing of drugs to patients, a prescient stance that has protected injured workers, employers, and taxpayers from the “let’s see how we can soak employers for as much money as possible while pretending we’re all about patient care” set.
