Workers' compensation costs: still a challenge

The workers' compensation system in the United States, comprised of independent state based and national programs for federal workers, covers approximately 127 million workers and has evolved and grown since its inception in 1911. Coverage has significantly broadened in scope to allow for the inclusion of most occupational injuries and illnesses. The cost of workers' compensation care has also increased. Some of the cost drivers have been identified,and various approaches have been taken to address medical cost containment. There is a need to balance cost control with ensuring benefit adequacy and quality of medical care. It is likely that managing workers' compensation costs will continue to be a challenge in the foreseeable future. The cost of workers' compensation care affects all stakeholders including workers, employers,providers, state workers' compensation regulators, legislatures,and insurers. A continued commitment to quality, accessibility to care, and cost containment, and being alert to emerging issues that can affect these elements, will help ensure that workers are afforded accessible, high quality, and cost-effective care.     

Improving quality through identifying inappropriate care: the use of guideline-based utilization review protocols in the Washington State Workers' Compensation System

Utilization review (UR) is widely instituted to ensure that medical treatment is clinically necessary and appropriate. UR programs have been criticized for their failure to promote quality and for relying on proprietary review criteria that are rarely subject to external, independent evaluation or validation. In fashioning its UR program for workers' compensation, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries sought to address these shortcomings. Working collaboratively with the state medical association, the Department of Labor and Industries developed treatment guidelines and then used these guidelines to formulate review criteria for UR. From 1993 through 1998, 100,005 UR reviews were conducted, half of which used the guideline-based review criteria. We analyzed these reviews to examine the patterns of denied requests. The overall denial rate for the guideline-based reviews was 7.3%. The highest denial rates were for thoracic outlet syndrome surgery (19.1%) and lumbar fusion (17.7%). The use of guideline-based UR protocols may improve the effectiveness of UR as a tool to identify potentially inappropriate care.     

Home parenteral nutrition: a hospital-based program with commercial logistic support

Since home parenteral nutrition was introduced in the 1970's, a number of medical centers have formed successful home parenteral nutrition programs which have reduced expenses to the patient and third party payers by 50 to 73% over in hospital costs. However, the cost of maintaining these programs for training and follow-up has largely been absorbed by the hospital as a nonreimbursable teaching expense. To offset the costs of our growing program in these times of budget "caps," we have established an agreement between our hospital and commercial home care company which provides for patient instruction and follow-up by the hospital parenteral and enteral nutrition team and logistic support by the home care company. We used the average cost of our first five patients to establish a fee schedule which the commercial company agreed to pay the hospital parenteral and enteral nutrition team for its services. This agreement reduces the number of nurses and pharmacists that the commercial company would otherwise have to hire for teaching and follow-up of home care patients, and supports the concept of regional care in medical centers where parenteral and enteral nutrition teams maintain quality control, continuity of care, and efficient teaching programs for patients requiring home parenteral nutrition.     

Ten years' experience using an integrated workers' compensation management system to control workers' compensation costs

This work presents 10 years of experience using an Integrated Workers' Compensation Claims Management System that allows safety professionals, adjusters, and selected medical and nursing providers to collaborate in a process of preventing accidents and expeditiously assessing, treating, and returning individuals to productive work. The hallmarks of the program involve patient advocacy and customer service, steerage of injured employees to a small network of physicians, close follow-up, and the continuous dialogue between parties regarding claims management. The integrated claims management system was instituted in fiscal year 1992 servicing a population of approximately 21,000 individuals. The system was periodically refined and by the 2002 fiscal year, 39,000 individuals were managed under this paradigm. The frequency of lost-time and medical claims rate decreased 73% (from 22 per 1000 employees to 6) and 61% (from 155 per 1000 employees to 61), respectively, between fiscal year 1992 and fiscal year 2002. The number of temporary/total days paid per 100 insureds decreased from 163 in fiscal year 1992 to 37 in fiscal year 2002, or 77%. Total workers' compensation expenses including all medical, indemnity and administrative, decreased from $0.81 per $100 of payroll in fiscal year 1992 to $0.37 per $100 of payroll in fiscal year 2002, a 54% decrease. More specifically, medical costs per $100 of payroll decreased 44% (from $0.27 to $0.15), temporary/total, 61% (from $0.18 to $0.07), permanent/partial, 63% (from $0.19 to $0.07) and administrative costs, 48% ($0.16 to $0.09). These data suggests that workers' compensation costs can be reduced over a multi-year period by using a small network of clinically skilled health care providers who address an individual workers' psychological, as well as physical needs and where communication between all parties (e.g., medical care providers, supervisors, and injured employees) is constantly maintained. Furthermore, these results can be obtained in an environment in which the employer pays the full cost of medical care and the claimant has free choice of medical provider at all times.     

Workers' compensation reform

Workers' compensation reform efforts respond to the competing interests of business, labor and insurers. Early reforms expanded programs in response to inadequate benefits and coverage while in the 1980s and 1990s states responded to increasing costs by tightening fee schedules, limiting physician choice, restricting eligibility,lowering benefits, and integrating managed care into workers' compensation. Although managed care has resulted in significant medical savings, the cost of workers' compensation is again rapidly increasing in some states, where workers' compensation legislation is again at the center of debate. Increasing the use of treatment guidelines, placing limitations on use of services, developing more objective criteria for determining level of disability, and streamlining dispute resolutions have been offered as solutions. Controlling costs alone, however, cannot solve other problems of workers' compensation. Future reform efforts will need to focus not only on the costs of the system but also its inclusiveness and support of the workers and their families it was intended to protect.     

Implementing meaningful CME as an essential component in a community hospital quality assurance plan.

The pursuit of high-quality patient care within a community hospital highlights the tenuous relationship between the hospital board and administration on one side and the voluntary medical staff on the other. Craddick describes the need to monitor and improve patient management, the commitment of physicians and administrators to high quality care, and the unfortunate failure of most hospital programs to go beyond paper exercises designed to satisfy the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH). The American College of Surgeons summarizes current methods of monitoring the quality of patient care, and gives four examples of successful programs. The JCAH Manual sets standards for hospitals and medical staffs to achieve. However, thus far no one has described how a hospital's medical staff, board, and administration join forces to implement a comprehensive quality assurance program. This paper presents the experience of one community hospital in dealing with this problem over a two-year period.     

参加新型农村合作医疗农村贫困人口和非贫困人口卫生服务利用的调查研究

目的通过对榆树市贫困与非贫困农民新型农村合作医疗（简称新农合）参加情况、利用情况、花费情况、住院费用和补偿情况进行比较分析,为评价新农合的实施效果和完善新农合制度提供科学依据。方法采用分层随机抽样的方法抽取3个乡镇143 322人,通过当地民政部门获取该3个乡镇的贫困人口名单,通过新农合管理系统获取该3个乡镇的就医情况,比较分析农村贫困人口和非贫困人口新农合利用、花费和补偿情况。结果贫困人口门诊就诊率低于非贫困人口,住院率高于非贫困人口,其差异均有统计学意义（P〈0.05）。贫困参合人口门诊及慢性病就诊人数所占比例均较非贫困人口低,差异均有统计学意义（P〈0.05）。贫困和非贫困参合人口门诊的次均费用和次均补偿金额比较差异均有统计学意义（P〈0.05）;两组人口住院次均费用和住院费用比较差异均无统计学意义（P〉0.05）;在慢性病方面,贫困组和非贫困组人口次均费用和次均补偿比较差异均无统计学意义（P〉0.05）。两组人口中住院患者住院天数和在三个级别医院分布情况比较差异有统计学意义（P〈0.05）。结论在制定相关贫困人口医疗救助政策时,应加大对高龄、丧偶这部分人群的补偿力度。     

Medicaid chemical dependency patients in a commercial health plan

A cohort of 197 Medicaid-insured patients presenting for treatment in Kaiser Permanente's outpatient chemical dependency treatment program were observed the year prior to their program intake visit and followed for 3 years afterwards, to compare their medical costs and utilization to demographically matched commercially insured patients entering the same programs. The Medicaid-insured patients on average incurred medical costs 60% higher than non-Medicaid patients during the 12-month preintake period ($5402 vs $3377). [corrected] During the 3 years subsequently, however, both groups of chemical dependency patients displayed significant declines in medical costs, averaging 30% from the baseline period to the third year of follow-up. Cost trends reflected declines in use of hospital days, emergency department visits, and nonemergent outpatient visits. These results may help address concerns among Medicaid managed care providers and payers by giving a more realistic account of the long-term costs of this group of high-utilizing enrollees.     

The cost-effectiveness of rehabilitation in the home: a study of Swedish elderly.

OBJECTIVES. To investigate whether care of elderly and disabled patients could be more cost-effective after a short-term hospital stay, we examined the impact of a primary home care intervention program on functional status, use and costs of care after 6 months. METHODS. When clinically ready for discharge from the hospital, chronically ill patients with dependence in one to five functions in personal activities of daily living were randomized to physician-led primary home care with a 24-hour service, and the controls were offered ordinary care. Physical, cognitive, social, and medical functions were assessed in 110 team subjects and 73 controls. Data regarding inpatient days and outpatient visits were collected and converted to costs. RESULTS. Team patients demonstrated better instrumental activities of daily living and outdoor walking and significantly fewer diagnoses and drugs at 6 months. They used less inpatient and more outpatient care compared with the control patients. Significant cost reductions were found in the team group. CONCLUSIONS. This primary home care intervention program is cost-effective, at least for a selection of patients at risk for long-term hospital care.     

Does income influence demand for medical services despite Japan's "Health Care for All" policy?

OBJECTIVES: We examined the impact of household income on the use of medical services in Japan, where there is a "health care for all" policy, with important, centralized influence by the national government designed to ensure universal access. METHODS AND SUBJECTS: All healthcare societies operating in 2003 were included in the study, representing 14,776,193 insured adults and 15,496,752 insured dependents. The mean case rate (the average number of monthly bills per patient), the mean number of service days per person, and the mean medical cost per person served as indicators of medical service use. Multiple regression analysis was performed by the forced entry method using case rate, the number of service days, and medical cost as outcome variables, and average monthly salary, dependent ratio, average age, and premium rate as the explanatory variables. RESULTS: In the multiple regression analyses, average monthly salary showed a high positive correlation of outpatient and dental indicators, including case rate, the number of service days, and medical cost. If the average monthly salary were reduced 20 percent lower than the mean, the estimated changes (95 percent CI) in case rate for the insured were -7.49 (-8.14 approximately -6.84) percent for outpatient visits and -8.16 (-8.77 approximately -7.56) percent for dental services. CONCLUSIONS: Average monthly salary intensifies the effects of copayments on the case rate, the number of service days, and medical cost in the "Employees Health Insurance" in Japan. Thus, a low salary appears to discourage patients from seeking medical and dental services.     

Barriers to workers' compensation and medical care for injured Personal Assistance Services workers

OBJECTIVES: We documented barriers to workers' compensation and injury-related medical care faced by homecare or Personal Assistance Services (PAS) workers. We explored differences between independent providers and agency-employed workers. METHODS: We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a diverse sample of 38 injured workers. Participants were primarily female and racial-ethnic minorities. RESULTS: Most participants (82%) were independent providers. Common barriers to reporting injury included commitments to clients and financial pressure. Unlike agency employees, many independent providers knew little about workers' compensation eligibility and injury reporting procedures, and frequently were given "the runaround" by the social service bureaucracy when they attempted to report injury and access injury-related medical care. Among independent providers, delays in filing a claim and receiving timely medical attention were common. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of a traditional employment infrastructure has important implications for vulnerable workers' health and the sustainability of consumer-directed PAS programs. We provide recommendations for improving workers' access to workers' compensation and injury-related medical care.     

A continuum of rehabilitative care. A day hospital extends patients' lifeline to the medical center

Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, IL, carries out its commitment to a continuum of care through the Alexian Brothers Rehabilitation Center and its Physical Rehabilitation Day Hospital. The day hospital treats patients who need rehabilitation but do not need around-the-clock hospitalization. The day hospital individualizes its intensive comprehensive, pulmonary, and arthritis programs. An important component of these outpatient programs is education and preventive techniques to reduce the need for repeat treatment. Only medically stable patients are transferred to the rehabilitation center, where an interdisciplinary team helps them achieve the maximum function possible within the limits imposed by their disabilities. The rehabilitation center sponsors a community support group for young adults who have sustained head injuries and a group for alumni of the center. Through its home healthcare program and its adult day care program, the medical center offers a variety of treatment delivery methods that enhance the center's continuum of care.     

Disability case management: an impact assessment in an automotive manufacturing organization

A multifaceted disability management program was instituted at an automotive manufacturing organization to control rising workers' compensation costs. A pilot program showed major cost savings over a 9-month period. When total and component disability leave rates were calculated as a percentage of the available workforce and tracked on a weekly basis over the subsequent 3 years, total disability leave rates fell by nearly 50%. This was largely attributable to an approximately 50% decrease in the extended (> 1-year) disability leave rate and a 75% decrease in the workers' compensation leave rate. A novel approach to biostatistical analysis showed a good fit of weekly disability leave rates to a Poisson random variable distribution with an identifiable break point at about 1 1/2 years after observation for extended disability leaves and at 2 years for workers' compensation leaves. This biostatistical approach may prove generalizable to tracking leave rates in other organizations.     

Service quality assessment of workers compensation health care delivery programs in New York using SERVQUAL

Preferred provider organizations (PPOs) provide healthcare services to an expanding proportion of the U.S. population. This paper presents a programmatic assessment of service quality in the workers' compensation environment using two different models: the PPO program model and the fee-for-service (FFS) payor model. The methodology used here will augment currently available research in workers' compensation, which has been lacking in measuring service quality determinants and assessing programmatic success/failure of managed care type programs. Results indicated that the SERVQUAL tool provided a reliable and valid clinical quality assessment tool that ascertained that PPO marketers should focus on promoting physician outreach (to show empathy) and accessibility (to show reliability) for injured workers.     

A cost-minimization study of cancer patients requiring a narcotic infusion in hospital and at home.

We conducted a retrospective, non-randomized, cost-minimization study, from the perspective of the Ministry of Health, to compare the cost of managing cancer patients who required narcotic infusions, in hospital and at home. Our medical costs averaged $369.72 per inpatient day and $150.24 per outpatient day (saving $219.48 per diem, 1988 Canadian dollars), while narcotic costs were the same for any given patient in both settings. Sensitivity analysis showed that no reasonable changes in the quantity and cost of services reduced our savings by more than 50%. During incremental analysis, savings increased as more outpatient days were managed by our centre, from $0.00 for 318 days, to more than $500,000 for over 2000 days per annum. As this program has been extremely cost effective and preferred by our patients, other hospitals and central funding agencies might consider establishing a regional outpatient narcotic infusion program to reduce their costs.     

Evaluation of a decentralized system for chronic disease care: seven years of observation.

Observations of a publicly-financed system for the medical care of a large number of persons with chronic diseases have been made over seven years. The system combines decentralized, nurse-staffed neighborhood clinics, operated by a public health department, with a central referral clinic for consultations and the management of complicated problems. After seven years in the chronic disease program 55% of 1,004 patients with diagnoses of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cardiac diseases were still receiving care, 19% had died, and 26% had been lost to the program. In the seventh year, the mean diastolic blood pressure in hypertensives was 84 mm Hg and the mean serum glucose in diabetics was 203 mg/dl. For the group under care, hospital days/1000/year were 74% of the rate during the year before referral to the program and out-patient visits/1000/year were approximately the same as before referral. However, two-thirds of the visits, formerly made to a public hospital, were now being made to neighborhood clinics. The system appears to be an effective method of providing medical services for persons who formerly used the public hospital as their source of outpatient care.     

Health, safety, and productivity in a manufacturing environment

The Health and Productivity Management model at International Truck and Engine Corporation includes the measurement, analysis, and management of the individual component programs affecting employee safety, health, and productivity. The key to the success of the program was the iterative approach used to identify the opportunities, develop interventions, and achieve targets through continuous measurement and management. In addition, the integration of multiple disciplines and the overall emphasis on employee productivity and its cost are key foci of the International Model. The program was instituted after economic and clinical services' analyses of data on International employees showed significant excess costs and a high potential for health care cost reductions based on several modifiable health risk factors. The company also faced significant challenges in the safety, workers' compensation, and disability areas. The program includes safety, workers' compensation, short-term disability, long-term disability, health care, and absenteeism. Monthly reports/analyses are sent to senior management, and annual goals are set with the board of directors. Economic impact has been documented in the categories after intervention. For example, a comprehensive corporate wellness effort has had a significant impact in terms of reducing both direct health care cost and improving productivity, measured as absenteeism. Workers' compensation and disability program interventions have had an impact on current costs, resulting in a significant reduction of financial liability. In the final phase of the program, all direct and indirect productivity costs will be quantified. The impact of the coordinated program on costs associated with employee health will be analyzed initially and compared with a "silo" approach.     

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Childhood Asthma Management Through School-Based Clinic Programs

Asthma is a leading chronic illness among American children. School-based health clinics (SBHCs) reduced expensive ER visits and hospitalizations through better healthcare access and monitoring in select case studies. The purpose of this study was to examine the cost-benefit of SBHC programs in managing childhood asthma nationwide for reduction in medical costs of ER, hospital and outpatient physician care and savings in opportunity social costs of lowing absenteeism and work loss and of future earnings due to premature deaths. Eight public data sources were used to compare costs of delivering primary and preventive care for childhood asthma in the US via SBHC programs, including direct medical and indirect opportunity costs for children and their parents. The costs of nurse staffing for a nationwide SBHC program were estimated at $4.55 billion compared to the estimated medical savings of $1.69 billion, including ER, hospital, and outpatient care. In contrast, estimated total savings for opportunity costs of work loss and premature death were $23.13 billion. Medical savings alone would not offset the expense of implementing a SBHC program for prevention and monitoring childhood asthma. However, even modest estimates of reducing opportunity costs of parents?? work loss would be far greater than the expense of this program. Although SBHC programs would not be expected to affect the increasing prevalence of childhood asthma, these programs would be designed to reduce the severity of asthma condition with ongoing monitoring, disease prevention and patient compliance.     

The impact of utilization management on readmissions among patients with cardiovascular disease

OBJECTIVE: To determine if prospective utilization reviews that lead to reduced hospital length of stay (LOS) relative to days requested by an attending physician affect the likelihood of readmission for privately insured patients with cardiovascular disease. DATA SOURCES: Data obtained from a private insurance company on utilization management decisions from 1989 through 1993. During this five-year period, 39,117 inpatient reviews were conducted, 4,326 (11.1 percent) on patients with cardiovascular disease. We selected for analysis all 4,326 reviews performed on patients with cardiovascular disease. STUDY DESIGN: We used proportional hazard analysis (Cox regression) to investigate the relationship between LOS reductions relative to days requested by a patient's attending physician and the likelihood of readmission within 60 days of discharge. Separate analyses were performed for medical and procedural admissions. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: There were 2,813 requests for medical admission, and 1,513 requests for procedural admission. Requests for admission were rarely denied. Length of stay was reduced relative to that requested by the treating physician for 17 percent and 19 percent of medical and procedural admissions, respectively. Cumulative 60-day readmission rates were 9.5 percent for medical admissions and 12.3 percent for procedural admissions. We found no relationship between LOS reduction and the likelihood of readmission for medical admissions. However, patients admitted for procedures who had their length of stay reduced by two or more days were 2.6 times as likely to be readmitted within 60 days as those who had no reduction in their length of stay (95% CI: 1.3-5.1; p < .005). CONCLUSIONS: Utilization management (UM) rarely denies requests for inpatient treatment of cardiovascular disease. The association between LOS reduction and the likelihood of readmission for patients admitted for cardiovascular procedures raises concern that UM may adversely affect clinical outcome for some patients. Further research is needed to definitively elucidate any relationship that might exist between utilization review decisions and quality of care.     

应用因子分析法对医疗工作质量进行综合评价

目的 分析医疗质量指标的潜在影响因素,综合评价医疗工作质量,为医院的经营管理提供一定的参考依据.方法 应用因子分析法统计徐州医学院附属医院部分科室13项医疗指标,包括出院人数、门诊人数、平均病床周转率、平均病床工作日、平均病床使用率、治愈好转率、实际占用总床日数、平均开放病床数、门诊与出院诊断符合率、入院与出院诊断符合率、三日确诊率、危重病人抢救成功率、危重病人住院率,应用SAS 9.13软件进行统计学处理.结果 从13项指标中提取出4个公因子,第一公因子为病床利用因子;第二公因子为诊断水平因子;第三公因子为流动因子;第四公因子为住院因子.4个公因子的累积方差贡献率达76.654%.结论 病床利用情况、诊断水平、病人流动情况和住院情况是医疗工作质量指标的主要影响因素,因子得分可以为医疗质量综合评价提供指导建议.