This study helps policymakers and stakeholders get an informed view about access to providers in their states by describing the medical workforce treating workers with injuries. The study shows how often physicians treat workers with injuries, examines the volume and the types of services that physicians provide, and examines how these providers fit within a larger health care marketplace.

The study finds substantial differences across physicians in their involvement in treating workers’ compensation patients. For some providers, work-related injuries represent a large part of their patient base, while many other providers may see workers with injuries only occasionally. Physicians who treat a substantial number of workers may be more familiar with the particularities of treating occupational injuries and may have better knowledge of factors that facilitate timely return to work.

The analysis is the first to examine the workers’ compensation physician marketplace across multiple states. The study includes information on medical care providers who treated workers after their injuries and the services that they provided across 34 states primarily between 2016 and 2018.

Workers’ Compensation Providers: Describing the Marketplace. Bogdan Savych and Olesya Fomenko. March 2023. WC-23-20.

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