Leaders Speak

By Nikki Wilson, PharmD, MBA, Director of Pharmacy Product Development, Coventry For all the progress our nation has made in reducing opioid prescriptions, misuse of these powerful analgesics remains an intractable problem. And while much work remains, the health care system has grown more adept at deploying the right resources at the right time to… [Read more]

By Joe Paduda, Principal, Health Strategy Associates Last week we debunked unwarranted fears that workers’ comp is in a profit-crushing “COVID crisis” – mostly because COVID-19 claim costs and claim counts are relatively low. Reality is COVID-19 costs will be more than offset by the massive decrease in new claims seen so far, a decrease… [Read more]

By Joe Paduda, Principal, Health Strategy Associates What do we KNOW about COVID-19’s impact on workers’ comp? Actually, we know a lot. We know relatively few claims have been accepted. We know most of the accepted claims have incurred little to no expense beyond a couple weeks of indemnity payments. We know about one-fifth of… [Read more]

Frank Raneri, Senior Vice President, Paradigm Specialty Networks In a previous post, we reviewed how the COVID-19 pandemic caused the temporary closure of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in April. Since reopening in May, they have been able to resume operations at or near previous capacity. This is particularly important for orthopedic surgeries related to workers’… [Read more]

Frank Raneri, Senior Vice President, Paradigm Specialty Networks The COVID-19 pandemic delayed a large number of workers’ compensation-related orthopedic surgeries, many of which were scheduled to be performed in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Since ASCs resumed operations in early May, taking a closer look at their response to the pandemic can help illuminate some of… [Read more]

By David Price, Director of Government Affairs, Preferred Medical In last week’s article, I laid out some of the obstacles that providers and claims administrators will face as they attempt to establish agreed-upon expectations as to what treatment would constitute medically necessary treatment for a patient in a compensable COVID-19 claim. At present, most states… [Read more]

By David Price, Director of Government Affairs, Preferred Medical Over these past few months, we have seen several states introduce presumptions to make it easier for certain classes of employees to establish a workers’ compensation claim after testing positive for COVID-19. At the same time, we’re also seeing more states “re-open” non-essential businesses, which means… [Read more]

Janet Kus, President and Co-founder of MTI America Transportation is a critical, and often under-valued, component of the workers’ compensation industry. By providing injured workers with timely transport to their appointments, drivers help to ensure that they receive the care they need while eliminating a key barrier to achieve successful return-to-work outcomes. Independent contractors have… [Read more]

By Marc Pyatt, PT, Physical Medicine National Product Leader, MTI America In the age of COVID-19, healthcare providers are looking for new ways to reach injured workers and help support their recovery goals. Healthcare providers are relying on telerehabilitation (or e-rehabilitation or virtual PT) to deliver care. Telerehab means using real-time, two-way electronic audio and… [Read more]

By Brian Peers, VP Clinical Services and Provider Management, MedRisk About 50 percent of patients who survive treatment in an intensive care unit–think COVID-19 patients on ventilators–will experience some form of post-intensive care syndrome or PICS, according to the American Thoracic Society. The term PICS refers to “new or worsening impairments in physical, cognitive, or… [Read more]