Cambridge, MA – The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) will host an hour-long webinar on Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 1pm ET (12pm CT, 11am MT, and 10am PT) to discuss payments for hospital and professional services for injured workers across states and the impact of reforms using two WCRI studies.
The first study, WCRI Medical Price Index for Workers’ Compensation, Fifth Edition (MPI-WC), measures general prices paid for medical professional services. Unlike the consumer price index for medical care (CPI-M), the 25-state MPI-WC focuses only on the prices paid for the medical care that injured workers receive under their state’s workers’ compensation system.
The second study, Hospital Outpatient Cost Index for Workers’ Compensation, 2nd Edition, is a 20-state study that allows more meaningful comparisons on hospital outpatient payments across states. The study creates an index for hospital outpatient costs for a group of relatively homogeneous surgical episodes constructed around the most commonly used outpatient surgeries in workers’ compensation.
Both studies highlighted the impact of different types of fee regulations on prices paid for professional and hospital services across states. The findings from the studies provide a useful tool to monitor the effect of fee schedule reforms on the trends of professional prices and hospital outpatient payments over time.
“This webinar can help policymakers and system stakeholders understand how prices paid for hospital and professional services for injured workers in their state compare with other states,” said Dr. Richard Victor, executive director of WCRI. “They can also learn if what is going on in their state is part of a national phenomenon or whether the causes are unique to their state and hence, subject to local management or reform.”
Things you will learn:
- Implications of different types of fee regulations on prices paid for professional and hospital services
- How states compared in terms of professional prices and hospital outpatient payments, and their growth over time
- What impact fee schedules had on prices and payments across states
Attendance is limited to 100 people and all attendees receive a free copy of the slides. Webinars are $39 for WCRI Members; $79 for Non-Members; and no charge for members of the press, legislators as well as their staff, and state public officials who make policy decisions impacting their state’s workers’ compensation system.
Click here to register: WCRI Webinar: Comparing Payments for Hospital and Professional Services for Injured Workers
Source: WCRI