Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features NCCI’s release of the third report in its new series of reports on Inflation and Workers’ Compensation medical costs, which stakeholders indicate is one of the top-of-mind issues they’re facing.
NCCI notes that physician and facility services represent the bulk of medical expenditures in workers’ comp, and this installment focuses on physician services and how evaluation and management (E&M), surgery, radiology, and physical medicine contribute to changes in workers’ comp medical costs. Key findings included that the average physician-paid cost per claim grew moderately from 2012 to 2021 at about 1.5% per year, and varied modestly by region. The report also found that changes in utilization were the main contributors to shifts in costs for surgeries and physical medicine services, with surgery use decreasing while physical medicine use increased.