Workers Comp Claim Medical Treatment
Do the Workers Comp claim medical treatment costs affect my claims cost the most?
In my opinion, controlling the workers comp claim medical treatment is the quickest way to cut your Workers Comp costs. Controlling the medical costs not only means using the medical networks to reduce the cost of the medical bills, but to control the doctors that treat your injured workers. A great industrial-minded treating doctor can also control the weeks out of work and the permanent disability rating.
As I have commented quite a few times in this blog and in my presentations, the main reason to maintain control of the employees’ medical treatment in a Workers Comp claim is that all Workers Comp courts, state bureaus, etc. consider the treating physician as being the only impartial witness in the claim. The medical testimony is usually going to be the “ultimate decider” in the claims process.
I have never seen the Workers Comp judge throw out the treating doctor’s medical testimony completely. So, the bottom line is “Control the medical treatment and your company will control the claim costs.” I have performed quite a few studies that shows this to be very true.
California started using MPN’s (Medical Provider Networks) in 2005. That is the one of the reasons for the sharp decreases in Workers Comp insurance rates in CA.
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