Increasing Physical Therapy Visits as a Marker for Time Lost From Work and High Workers' Compensation Claim Costs

Edward J Bernacki; Nina Leung; Larry Yuspeh; Nimisha Kalia; Robert A Lavin; Nicholas F Tsourmas; Xuguang Grant Tao

doi:10.1097/JOM.0000000000001891

Increasing Physical Therapy Visits as a Marker for Time Lost From Work and High Workers' Compensation Claim Costs

J Occup Environ Med. 2020 Jul;62(7):e328-e333. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001891.

Authors

Edward J Bernacki¹, Nina Leung, Larry Yuspeh, Nimisha Kalia, Robert A Lavin, Nicholas F Tsourmas, Xuguang Grant Tao

Affiliation

¹ Department of Population Health, Dell Medical School, the University of Texas at Austin, Austin (Dr Bernacki, Dr Leung, Dr Tsourmas); Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (Dr Bernacki, Dr Leung, Mr Yuspeh, Dr Kalia, Dr Tao); AVP of Strategic Risk and Strategy Management, Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation, Louisiana (Mr Yuspeh); North America Medical Leader, The Procter and Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH (Dr Kalia); Department of Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (Dr Lavin); and Texas Mutual Insurance Company, Austin, TX (Dr Leung, Dr Tsourmas).

PMID: 32730036
DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001891

Abstract

Objective: To quantify the association between physical therapy (PT) visits and workers' compensation costs and lost time.

Method: A total of 40,203 lost-time claims (1998 to 2018) were analyzed.

Results: The odds ratio of total paid claim costs more than or equal to $100,000 increased with the number of PT visits from 1.91 with 1 to 3 PT visits (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.62 to 2.26) to 5.56 (95% CI: 4.86 to 6.37) for workers with a surgical procedure and more than or equal to 50 PT visits versus those without PT visits, when controlling for confounding factors. The risk of remaining at an off work status is greatest among claims involving surgery, escalating among claims with 15 or more PT visits (hazard ratio more than or equal to 3.76).

Conclusions: PT visits may be used as a marker for high workers' compensation cost and delayed return-to-work.

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Insurance Claim Review
Louisiana / epidemiology
Male
Occupational Injuries / economics
Occupational Injuries / epidemiology
Occupational Injuries / therapy
Odds Ratio
Physical Therapy Modalities / economics
Physical Therapy Modalities / statistics & numerical data*
Sick Leave / economics*
Sick Leave / statistics & numerical data
Workers' Compensation / economics*
Workers' Compensation / statistics & numerical data