The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) released a new study, The Effects of Provider Choice Policies on Workers’ Compensation Costs. The study found nuanced evidence about how provider choice policies are related to workers’ compensation medical and indemnity costs. On one side, employees argue that the matter of choice is important in establishing provider trust. On the other, employers maintain that the employer choice curbs cost. But the WCRI study takes the wind out of this debate’s sails. The findings in this study suggest that there is no significant difference in average medical costs between states that allow injured employees to choose and the states that allow employers to control that choice.

The WCRI notes that provider choice policies are often confusing, and sometimes ignored – it’s both “common for employees to choose the medical provider when policies give employers control over provider choice, and for employers to choose the provider when workers have the right to direct this choice.” Additionally, this type of injury significantly impacts medical and indemnity costs – the WCRI noted that back injuries, in particular, resulted in higher costs, and that this is especially true when provider choice policies gave the injured employee a high degree of control over provider choice.

Interestingly, these types of high-cost injuries may partially explain the common misconception that employee-choice policies lead to higher medical costs. The WCRI findings suggest that medical complications or disputes over the proposed course of treatment for a high-cost injury may lead an injured employee to choose their own provider, regardless of their employer’s provider-choice policy. That level of thinking was missing from previous studies, which simply picked up on the employee’s choice without taking into account whether or not that employee’s choice conformed with their employer’s policy. As a result, the data from older could have been inadvertently skewed to suggest a false correlation between high costs and employee-choice programs.

In the state of Georgia, the Workers’ Compensation Act requires the employer to provide a panel of providers and show and explain it to the employees. As such the employees are required to pick one of the panel providers when suffering workplace injuries. Many employers argue giving employers control over provider choice will avoid workers’ compensation fraud. However, the problem does not lie with the employer’s control over the selection of doctors but with which provider will provide the most adequate care to the employee as some of the providers contracted with the employers are not capable of providing the best treatments available. Out of my years in practice, I have tried a lot of cases concerning the injured employee’s provider choice to ensure the most adequate and sufficient medical treatments for my patients because I know all my clients deserve the best treatments to get their life back, prior to the injury ,  as soon as possible.

The Poirier Law Firm has been selected for Client’s Choice Award by Avvo. Our goal is to make sure that all of our injured workers promptly and efficiently, receive his/her necessary medical treatment. So if you or a family member have been hurt at work and have any issues with promptly receiving medical treatment, call Poirier Law today for help and for a free consultation. The Poirier Law Firm has represented injured workers for over 16 years. You deserve to have a zealous advocate in your corner!