Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features the release of a new study from CWCI that found treatment patterns for California workers’ comp professional medical services have stabilized in recent years, with only minor changes in utilization rates and volume of services rendered to injured workers.
Key findings included a decline in the percentage of indemnity claims involving major surgery in the first two years, with a drop from 28% in 2014 to 23% in 2019. Surgical claims also averaged ~7 to 9 more Evaluation and Management (E&M) visits than claims without major surgery. Additionally, the study found that Physical Medicine services, Advanced Imaging, and Mental Health services remained fairly stable over the years. Interestingly 6-month data on claims with 2018 to 2021 initial service dates showed pandemic-related disruptions to medical service delivery had little impact on the prevalence or volume of early treatment provided.