wcrinet.orgWCRI - Workers Compensation Research Institute | WCRI

-- Member Login | Cart (0) Toggle navigation Keyword Search Search Guide -- -- Home Search Our Studies Topics Access to Care Ambulatory Surgery Centers Comparing Group Health and Workers' Compensation Drug Formularies Fee Schedules Indemnity Benefits Litigation and Dispute Resolution Medical Costs Networks Outcomes for Injured Workers Physician Dispensing Prescription Drugs and Opioids Provider Choice Return to Work System Overview Treatment Guidelines Utilization Other State Comparison Studies Annual State Medical CompScope™ Benchmarks Annual State CompScope™ Benchmarks Interstate Variations in Use of Opioids Fee Schedule Benchmarks Prescription Benchmarks Hospital Outpatient Payment Index Medical Price Index Outcomes for Injured Workers National Inventories Fee Schedule Inventories Rx National Inventories Workers' Compensation Laws Workers' Compensation Medical Cost Containment Administrative Inventories Treatment Guidelines Inventory Browse all reports About Message from the CEO Mission & History Research Programs Governance Staff Directory Annual Reports Quarterly Newsletters Membership Membership Types Benefits of Membership List of Members Testimonials Member Spotlight News & Events Press Releases Blog In the News Events Webinars Download Now! WCRI Estimates Number of Workers Covered by State COVID-19 Presumptions View Now Download Now! Better Outcomes Associated with Early Physical Therapy for Injured Workers with Low Back Pain View Now Download Now! Study Identifies Workers at Risk of Developing Longer-Term Opioid Use View Now Download Now! Reoperation & Readmission Rates for Workers’ Compensation Patients Undergoing Lumbar Surgery Examined in New WCRI Study View Now Save the Date! WCRI's 37th Annual Issues & Research Conference Is Going Virtual March 23 – 24, 2021 View Now Latest Reports Upcoming Events In The News Reoperation & Readmission Rates for Workers’ Compensation Patients Undergoing Lumbar Surgery Post-surgery readmissions and reoperations are the primary quality indicators being used by commercial, governmental, and a limited number of workers’ compensation payors in their value-based purchasing programs. This study can help policymakers and other stakeholders shed light on the areas where quality improvement… Read More >> Monitoring Trends in the New York Workers’ Compensation System, 2020 Edition Originally established to monitor changes in the system following substantial legislative reforms in March of 2007, this report has evolved into a tool for tracking key metrics of system performance on an ongoing basis, as further legislative reforms and administrative changes continue to shape the system. This regular monitoring… Read More >> Early Predictors of Longer-Term Opioid Dispensing Despite substantial reductions in recent years, opioids continue to be widely dispensed to workers with work-related injuries in several states. Longer-term opioid dispensing for workers with work-related injuries can lead to increased disability duration and even death. This study identifies which patients are more… Read More >> CompScope™ Medical Benchmarks, 21st Edition The factors behind trends in medical payments per claim in 18 state workers’ compensation systems and the impact of legislative and regulatory changes on those costs are examined in this 21st edition of CompScope™ Medical Benchmarks. The studies examine trends in payments, prices, and utilization of medical… Read More >> The Timing of Physical Therapy for Low Back Pain: Does It Matter in Workers’ Compensation? As an increasing number of workers with injuries are receiving physical therapy (PT), this study examines the association between early initiation of PT and utilization of medical services, costs of medical services, and duration of temporary disability (TD) for workers with low back pain (LBP). The study focuses on claims… Read More >> Webinar on Early Physical Therapy for Injured Workers with Low Back Pain Cambridge, MA, Nov. 24, 2020 ― The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) will host a one-hour webinar on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET on its recent study The Timing of Physical Therapy for Low Back Pain: Does It Matter in Workers’ Compensation? The authors of the study ─ Ms. Dongchun Wang, Dr. Randy Lea, and Dr. Kathryn Mueller ─ will discuss the key findings from the study and take audience questions. Read More >> Webinar on the Performance of the New York Workers’ Compensation System Cambridge, MA, Nov. 3, 2020 – The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) will host a free one-hour webinar on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET on its recently released study Monitoring Trends in the New York Workers’ Compensation System, 2020 Edition . The authors of the study, William Monnin-Browder and Carol Telles, will be discussing the key findings from the study. Read More >> Save the Date! WCRI’s 37th Annual Issues & Research Conference Is Going Virtual March 23 – 24, 2021 We are excited to announce that the 37th Annual WCRI Issues & Research Conference is going virtual March 23 - 24, 2021. We look forward to the opportunity to share our latest research findings with our global audience. More details to come. If you have any questions, please contact us using the form below. Read More >> ​Free WCRI Webinar on the Delivery of Medical Care and Return to Work During COVID-19 Join the Workers Compensation Research Institute’s (WCRI) President and CEO John Ruser for a free one-hour webinar on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET on the delivery of medical care and return to work in the COVID-19 era. Dr. Ruser will be joined by Dr. Randy Lea, who is a senior research fellow at WCRI, an orthopedic surgeon, and a hospital chief medical officer in Columbus, OH. One of Dr. Lea’s infectious disease colleagues, Dr. Mark Herbert, will also be joining the group. Read More >> Two Days to Go More than 400 people are headed to Boston this week for WCRI's 36th Annual Issues & Research Conference, March 5-6. If you haven't registered already, below are three reasons to attend this leading workers' compensation forum. We also wanted to inform those who are attending or considering attending that we issued a statement on our blog about the coronavirus that includes important safety measures. Read More >> Medical Payments per Claim among the Lowest in Michigan Workers’ Compensation System, Related to Price Regulations ​Cambridge, MA, December 10, 2020 – Medical payments per claim with more than seven days of lost time were fairly stable in Michigan, increasing 2.5 percent per year on average, according to a recent study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). Read More >> Medical Payments in California Workers’ Compensation System Show Effects of Policy Changes Cambridge, MA, December 3, 2020 – Medical payments per claim in California were typical of other states for 2016 claims with experience through 2019 (2016/2019), the effect of comprehensive reform legislation, according to a recent study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). In previous years, medical payments per claim in California were higher than typical. Read More >> WCRI Estimates Number of Workers Covered by State COVID-19 Presumptions Cambridge, MA, December 1, 2020 ― With several states passing executive orders or laws that create a presumption of workers’ compensation coverage for certain employees who contract COVID-19, the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) has conducted a series of studies using publicly available employment data to estimate the number of workers covered in each state. Read More >> Medical Payments per Claim Mostly Stable in Georgia Workers’ Compensation System, Finds WCRI Study Cambridge, MA, November 19, 2020 – Medical payments per claim with more than seven days of lost time have been mostly stable in Georgia since 2008, accordin...