The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) hosted a webinar Thursday addressing “centers of excellence” (CsOE). The CsOE system is a delivery of care model that is emerging in workers’ comp to improve outcomes and decrease costs.
WCRI released a new study: Interstate Variations in Dispensing of Opioids, 5th Edition, which assesses claims data from 27 states, including Louisiana, from October 2011 to March 2018. The study finds that, in all states studied, fewer injured workers received opioids recently as compared with previous years. Injured workers continue to be treated for pain with NSAIDs, which increased modestly, and other interventions.
The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) recently issued a FlashReport on initial treatment delays for workers’ comp patients across 18 study states. Louisiana consistently had some of longest wait times among the study states. Read on for local response to the data.
The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) issued a FlashReport on Tuesday which attempts to show how a Texas-like closed formulary, such as the Work Loss Data Institute’s “Official Disability Guidelines” formulary, might affect the prevalence and costs of drugs prescribed to Louisiana state employees. Louisiana Comp Blog reached out to local stakeholders to get their take on whether or not Louisiana prescribers would respond to a formulary the way Texas has and the way WCRI ponders in the report.
The latest WCAC meeting held at the Department of Insurance in Baton Rouge on September 21st, again put the spotlight on the Broadspire genetic testing issue discussed at the last meeting. This time, a Broadspire representative spoke in response to the Council’s concerns.
The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) hosted a webinar on its recent provider choice study, which on the surface found no statistically significant difference in costs between employee versus employer provider choice states.
WCRI recently released its 15th edition of the CompScope Medical Benchmarks for Louisiana. The CompScope reports are individualized analyses of each of the sixteen WCRI study states, designed to provide a comparative basis – and to influence policy. Louisiana Comp Blog sought out our most seasoned commentators to provide their thoughts on the results of this study and WCRI’s methods, as well as their perspective on the controversial Oregon Premium Study, which was published almost concurrently.
