Workers' Compensation: The Burden on Healthcare Resource Utilization After Foot and Ankle Surgery

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Healthcare Resource Utilization
• Workers' Compensation

Background:

• Patients undergoing common foot and ankle procedures may have varied healthcare resource needs.
• Understanding the impact of workers' compensation (WC) on healthcare utilization is crucial for resource allocation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare healthcare resource utilization between patients with workers' compensation (WC) and a matched control group after common foot and ankle procedures.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective review of 142 patients undergoing foot and ankle procedures was conducted.
• Healthcare burden was measured by clinical communications, documents, prescriptions, office visits, and return-to-work and discharge times.

Main Results:

• Patients with WC showed increased office communication, documents, prescriptions, and office visits (P < 0.001 for all).
• WC patients had significantly longer return-to-work (P < 0.001) and clinic discharge times (P < 0.001).
• WC patients had higher rates of postoperative complications (P = 0.04), secondary surgeries (P < 0.001), and new complaints (P = 0.07).

Conclusions:

• Patients with workers' compensation incur substantially higher healthcare resource utilization following foot and ankle surgery.
• The increased demands associated with WC patients effectively double the workload compared to non-WC patients.