Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
The internet, smart phones, electric vehicles, 9/11, genome sequencing…a lot has changed since 1990. But in workers’ comp…not so much. About 30 years ago OUCH (now part of Coventry) started the national workers’ comp PPO business. Liberty Mutual execs (literally) … Continue reading Has anything changed?
Read More...Lots of good stuff… Those darn facility costs… WCRI’s latest survey of outpatient hospital costs, reimbursement, and all manner of related matters is just off the presses. There’s data about specific states’ costs, network penetration, facility cost trends, surgical costs … Continue reading Research Round-up – the Hospital Edition
Read More...Here’s how to think about price and service. Hint – getting it right requires taking the time to dig deep… Commodities vs specialized services All “services” are NOT created equal. Some are commodities – drugs, facilities, PPO networks, and some … Continue reading The right way to think about buying WC Services
Read More...All “discounts” are not bad. Unfortunately in comments on and emails regarding yesterday’s post a few folks jumped to the opposite conclusion. Let me explain. There are two distinctly different types of healthcare providers – let’s call them Care Managers … Continue reading Care managers vs Cost centers
Read More...With extremely rare exceptions, workers’ comp payers – and PPO networks – are doing next to nothing about “quality”. An illustration. Let’s compare two hospitals near Jacksonville Florida. Using publicly available, free data (thanks to RAND), Baptist Medical is pretty … Continue reading Workers’ comp is still in the dark ages.
Read More...Haven Healthcare – the Amazon-JPMorgan-Berkshire Hathaway joint venture intended to re-invent healthcare – is no more. The quest to improve access to primary care, simplify insurance coverage, and make prescription drugs more affordable ended after three years. We don’t know … Continue reading Haven Healthcare’s demise – lessons for workers comp
Read More...Wednesday I dropped the first five predictions; today we’ll finish up. 6. The workers’ comp insurance market will stay soft. Here’s a few reasons why. There’s hundreds of billions of capital floating around out there, looking for a home. Workers’ … Continue reading Predictions for 2021 – Workers’ Comp Part 2
Read More...Never has the crystal ball been cloudier. A lack of visibility does not mean one shouldn’t think through what might be hidden within the clouds. To quote Dwight Eisenhower, “plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” While what we think … Continue reading Predictions for 2021 – Workers’ comp
Read More...As tempting as it is to just ignore my predictions for workers’ comp in 2020 and blame mis-calls on COVID, that wouldn’t be right. So, here’s how I did. 1. The work comp insurance market will stay soft. Yep. And … Continue reading Last year’s predictions…how’d I do?
Read More...Defying statutory requirements, logic, common sense, good government, fairness, basic math and the facts, Florida’s workers comp regulators just hammered the state’s employers, taxpayers, and physicians. This is NOT yesterday’s Three Member Panel meeting, altho it bears a striking resemblance…foregone … Continue reading Florida’s hospitals win big. Employers and taxpayers lose big.
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