Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
My firm, Health Strategy Associates, has conducted a survey of prescription drug management each year for the last five. I’m well into the survey portion of the Sixth Annual Survey, and here are some preliminary findings. 1. Drug cost inflation … Continue reading The Sixth Annual Survey of Prescription Drug Management in Workers’ Comp – (very) preliminary results
Read More...There are two key takeaways from the WCIRB report on California’s work comp costs (as reported by workcompcentral.com). Medical costs are rising fast, and managed care costs are rising much faster. Medical expenses climbed 7.9% last year, led by a … Continue reading Comp cost escalation in California; no answer in sight
Read More...A couple weeks ago the good folks at PMSI sent a copy of their excellent Drug Trends Report over for a preview before the ‘official’ release at RIMS. There’s some interesting stuff in the Report, lots of good info about … Continue reading So, which PBM has ‘better’ results?
Read More...In one of those all-but-unnoticed moves that could have a dramatic effect on workers comp, the FDA has moved to ban a number of currently-dispensed pain medications, medications that are currently prescribed to many work comp claimants. These aren’t the … Continue reading FDA move to hit workers comp hard
Read More...From the world of workers comp comes a crystal clear picture of what’s wrong with America’s health care system, and how difficult it will be to get it right. WorkCompCentral has a piece this morning about California’s proposal to not … Continue reading Why health reform will be so tough
Read More...Dave North, CEO of Sedgwick CMS was one of the morning panelists. He began with a rather strong statement about workers comp, a statement that was also an indictment of the industry’s complete inability to manage medical – the fact … Continue reading WCRI – Medical costs are up because solutions don’t work
Read More...If you’ve been wondering why your company is paying so much for high-powered pain medications, here’s why. Cephalon, manufacturer of Actiq and Fentora, has: “agreed to plead guilty to promoting off label use of its painkiller Actiq–which was widely used … Continue reading Cephalon – the worst of the worst
Read More...Health care costs are higher because of waste fraud and abuse. How much higher is a subject of debate, but common wisdom suspects we’re paying hundreds of billions more each year than we should. There are big frauds and abuses … Continue reading The small frauds
Read More...Surgical devices left inside a patient. Dispensing the wrong medication or the wrong dosage. Giving a patient the wrong blood type in a transfusion. Serious pressure ulcers incurred while hospitalized. Infections from catheterization in the ICU. These are among the … Continue reading Why is workers comp paying for hospital errors?
Read More...New York announced significant (some would say drastic) changes to the state’s WC Laws and Regulations last summer. These changes will result in a dramatic decrease in WC premium rates in the state, something long overdue, and much welcomed. There … Continue reading The latest on NY’s WC Rx changes
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