Dennis Sponser writes an editorial for WorkersCompensation.com on "The Hidden Cost of Regulatory Surprise: What Workers’ Comp Stakeholders Should Know Before it’s Too Late."

There is more regulatory chaos in the workers' compensation pharmacy industry than ever before. While players focus on daily tasks like processing claims, negotiating contracts, and limiting usage, a quiet wave of changes to state regulations threatens to disrupt the entire business's economics...

Four Areas of Regulation That Need Constant Monitoring 

The workers' compensation pharmaceutical regulatory landscape consists of four main areas, each of which can significantly impact how things operate. 

1. Rules for Doctors Giving Out Medications Physician dispensing remains one of the most unstable and financially significant aspects of workers' comp pharmacy regulation. States are still trying to determine the true cost of providing prescriptions in the office, with studies showing that it can be 60% to 300% more expensive than dispensing the same medications at a retail pharmacy.

You can read the full editorial here.  The WCRI study that Sponer cites is Physician Dispensing in Workers’ Compensation (2012).