Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features the release of a new research brief from NCCI that examines medical costs in the workers’ comp system, and more importantly the interesting development in 2015, where for first time in more than 20 years, the average severity of medical claims for employees who were out of work due to injury or illness declined after years of steady increases.
The new brief noted that average paid medical costs per workers comp claim declined by about 1% in 2015, with a decrease in medical severity observed in about half of the 38 states that NCCI surveyed despite a lack of change in injury mix from 2012-15. Key factors contributing to the decline included a decrease of about 3% in paid physician costs per claim during the year, even though physician prices had remained relatively stable. The decline in physician costs was directly related to a corresponding 3% decline in physician utilization per claim, which includes factors like the number of office visits per claim and number of services provided during each visit.
Find out more (including a link to the free brief!) by clicking here!