Association is Not Causation, But…

Association is not causation, but timing is everything!

Angela Childers, writing in Business Insurance, summarizes the latest Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) study titled “The Timing of Physical Therapy for Low Back Pain: Does It Matter in Workers’ Compensation?”

After examining 26,000 lost time low back claims from 27 states, the WCRI’s Magic 8-Ball responds “signs point to yes.”

The researchers concluded that injured workers’ medical costs are 25% lower when PT commences within 3 days of injury versus starting at 30 days. In addition, the late introduction of PT resulted in increased:

TTD;

Opioids;

MRIs;

Surgical requests.

Obviously there are other factors to consider such as comorbidities, injury severity and employee behavior. But it’s hard to argue against early intervention.

For 30 years, OMCA has been doing better with a variety of early intervention protocols. Whether it’s PT, case management or aggressive utilization review, timing does matter.

Call us. We can do better.

William Faris, JD
Chief Executive Officer
502-495-5040
william.faris@omca.biz
www.omca.biz

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