NEW WCRI WEBINAR: HOSPITAL OUTPATIENT COSTS AND THE IMPACT OF FEE SCHEDULES

CAMBRIDGE, MA, April 3, 2012—As legislators, employers, and other stakeholders look for ways to control the rising costs of medical care for injured workers, WCRI is offering a series of webinars on important workers’ compensation topics and research that will be both interesting and actionable.

The first of the series is a webinar based on WCRI’s recent study, Hospital Outpatient Cost Index for Workers’ Compensation, which is packed with information to help you make more meaningful comparisons of hospital outpatient costs across states, identify key cost drivers, and measure the impact of reforms over time. 

Join the author of the study, Rebecca Yang, for an in depth discussion on Tuesday, April 10, 2012 from 1-2pm EDT as she shares the major findings of the study and takes your questions.

Participants will learn:

• Impact of fee schedules on hospital outpatient and/or Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) costs across states
• Impact of reforms on hospital outpatient/ASC costs
• Long term policy implications of different types of fee schedules

The states included in this webinar, which represent 60 percent of the workers’ compensation benefits paid in the United States, are California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. 

“The webinars are a great opportunity to engage with my talented colleagues who conducted the research,” said Dr. Richard Victor, WCRI’s Executive Director. 

Upcoming Webinars:

• Avoiding Litigation: What Employers, Insurers, and State Workers’ Compensation Agencies Can Do – Thursday, May 10 from 1-2pm EDT
• Compliance With Narcotics Guidelines – Thursday, June 7, 2012 from 1-2pm EDT
• Comparing Virginia’s Workers’ Compensation System To Other States – Thursday, June 28 from 1-2pm EDT
• Factors Influencing Return to Work for Injured Workers: Lessons from Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – Wednesday, July 11 from 1-2pm EDT 
• Monitoring New York’s Workers’ Compensation System – Thursday, July 19^th from 1-2pm EDT

ABOUT WCRI:

The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) is an independent, not-for-profit research organization based in Cambridge, MA. WCRI is recognized as a leader in providing objective, credible, and high-quality information about public policy issues involving workers' compensation systems. WCRI's members include employers; insurers; governmental entities; managed care companies; health care providers; insurance regulators; state labor organizations; and state administrative agencies in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.