This study helps policymakers and other stakeholders in the Massachusetts workers’ compensation system identify current cost drivers and emerging trends in payments, prices, and utilization of medical services provided for treating workers with injuries.

The study examines medical payments, prices, and utilization for various types of services by nonhospital and hospital providers in Massachusetts, and compares them with 17 other states. It also examines how these metrics of medical costs and care have changed, mainly from 2014 to 2019, for claims at an average of 12 months of experience. Claims with experience through 2020 for injuries up to and including 2019 were analyzed. In some cases, a longer time frame was used to supply historical context for key metrics. Information from other WCRI studies was also included to provide a more complete picture of the system in Massachusetts.

The results we report include experience on claims through March 2020, at the very beginning of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The study, therefore, provides a pre-COVID-19 baseline for evaluating the impact of the virus on workers’ compensation claims. 

CompScope™ Medical Benchmarks for Massachusetts, 22nd Edition. Roman Dolinschi. October 2021. WC-21-31.

Copyright: WCRI