Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
Late in 2011 I predicted medical directors would begin to assume more authority and responsibility as workers’ comp insurers/TPAs realized the significance of medical management. Boy was I wrong. My thinking was logical (I know, that was my first mistake); with … Continue reading What happened to the work comp Medical Director?
Read More...Opioids will be the biggest problem the workers’ comp industry faces over the next few years. WCRI’s hosting a webinar on the issue later this month, and I’d encourage you to sign up (do it fast, there’s a limit on … Continue reading Opioids’ long term impact on workers’ comp – WCRI reports
Read More...The good folk at WCRI were kind enough to send me their latest CompScope research which covers workers’ comp cost drivers, components, the impact of regulatory changes, and trends in 16 states. Needless to say, there’s a LOT there. And … Continue reading WCRI’s latest research says…
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...Yesterday’s post on CorVel was cut short by the demands of real work; here’s the rest. Financially, CorVel has had a very mediocre year. Their most recent quarter saw revenues stay pretty much flat, while earnings dropped 10 cents a … Continue reading What’s new with CorVel, part 2
Read More...Update – And with it will come higher workers comp premium revenue. The most comprehensive report on the resurgence of American manufacturing is in this month’s Atlantic magazine. (Over at WorkersCompInsider, Julie Ferguson beat me to the punch on this … Continue reading Manufacturing’s coming back
Read More...Prices for brand drugs were up 13 percent in Q3 2012 from Q3 2011, while generic prices actually decreased 21 percent. That’s the headline from Express Scripts’ just-released drug trends report, which attributes the huge price increase to brand … Continue reading Pharmacy pricing up – driven by brands
Read More...Claimants with comorbidities [health issues identified by the treating doc] cost a lot more than patients without. That’s the conclusion of NCCI’s latest report, and a finding all workers’ comp stakeholders would do well to consider carefully – for several … Continue reading Comorbidities double workers’ comp claims costs
Read More...Something struck me during the bloggers speak session on Thursday – at a time when medical costs are heading up, driven by over-utilization, opioids, crappy networks, and percentage-of-savings-based networks, there are few medical experts in positions of real authority in … Continue reading Work comp medical, OneCall, and the future of workers’ comp
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