Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
After a brief diversion yesterday to focus on breaking news and research, it’s back to the impact of health reform on comp, with today’s post delving in to cost-shifting. Cost-shifting is a general term for provider behavior involving seeking more … Continue reading Obamacare and workers’ comp – part 4 of 9; cost shifting
Read More...WCRI released the fifth edition of the Medical Price Index for Workers’ Comp yesterday (download available at no cost); analyzing 25 states that account for 80 percent of WC spend, the study focuses on prices paid for non-facility services and … Continue reading Controlling work comp medical costs – the impact of price
Read More...This biweekly edition of health Wonk Review covers the recent news that health care cost inflation has moderated, digs into various aspects of ACA implementation, and provides insights on a couple other timely topics. Read on! Health care cost trends … Continue reading HWR on health care cost trends, reform implementation, and motivations
Read More...There appear to be several reasons for the decline in the health care cost inflation rate with a poor economy and resulting job loss and changes in benefit design often cited – rightly – as chief contributors. There’s some fear … Continue reading Health inflation is down – and may stay down
Read More...According to the NYTimes, the FDA’s ongoing investigation into compounding pharmacies: “found numerous unsafe practices at about 30 compounding pharmacies, the same type of facility responsible for the tainted drug that caused a deadly meningitis outbreak last year. Among the problems found … Continue reading Drug compounding’s continuing problems
Read More...There’s yet more evidence that treatment patterns vary significantly across providers. Today’s evidence comes courtesy of two academic institutions and Medrisk, Inc. (consulting client) which reported significant differences in the type and duration of physical therapy provided to workers’ comp … Continue reading Variations in medical care – it happens in PT, too.
Read More...It has long been known that there’s wide variation in the type, quantity, and outcomes of medical care across providers. A new report – research done by Dartmouth, and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – looks at variations … Continue reading Variation in hospital results – how to use the data
Read More...The good folk at WCRI have produced a very useful – and very timely – analysis of outpatient facility costs, cost drivers, regulatory mechanisms, and trends in 20 key states. Timely because the upcoming changes to Medicare and Medicaid’s hospital … Continue reading Work comp hospital costs – what WCRI’s report says, and what it means
Read More...More than 10% of workers comp medical costs are for claims more than 20 years old. And that percentage may well increase. That’s the finding from NCCI’s latest research, courtesy of Barry Lipton, John Robertson, and Dan Corro. There are … Continue reading In workers’ comp, it’s the tail that’ll kill you
Read More...Here’s what I see happening in the world of workers’ comp and WC services in 2013… three today, three tomorrow and the last four Wednesday – unless other news intrudes. 1. Vendor consolidation There are two main drivers – the … Continue reading Predictions for the workers comp world in 2013
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