High Error Rate Found in WC Diagnoses

Twenty percent of your workers’ compensation claims are misdiagnosed. So says a study just released by Best Doctors, a medical consulting firm in Boston. And how do they know this?

They analyzed 250,000 claims over a 10-year period. Their results also showed that in the top 5% most expensive claims, the diagnostic error rate was as high as 50%.

Dr. Lewis Levy, one of the study’s authors, talked with WorkersCompensation.com recently and elaborated on his findings. “There is a devastating physical, emotional and financial toll caused by a misdiagnosis. The impact can be even more overwhelming for an injured worker who may experience prolonged disability, household financial distress, and a career in jeopardy.”

Often, I think, we go for the quick fix, the easiest solution and forget the lifelong impact that incorrect medical treatment can have. The case that we can wrap up quickly can result in a tragic outcome for the claimant who is incorrectly diagnosed.

What can we do? Better physician participants in our networks, close scrutiny of the medical care rendered, adherence to evidence-based medicine and thorough utilization review by nurses and doctors who are experts in the field they are reviewing can make a major difference in outcomes, and outcomes make a major difference in both cost and quality of life. This is hard work, but the payoff is huge.

We do all these things very well.

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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