Episode of Care Characteristics Following Implementation of a No Copay Physical Therapy Program for Musculoskeletal...

New care models promoting early access to physical therapy by reducing or eliminating copays are emerging. Few studies have compared health care use in these programs to other care pathways across musculoskeletal conditions.

The objective of this study was to describe episode-level musculoskeletal health care use across different care pathway options, including a no-copay physical therapy program.

This study was a descriptive retrospective analysis of claims data.

This study included health care beneficiaries of a self-insured employer with ~52,000 covered lives.

The study included musculoskeletal care episodes from October 2019 to September 2020 categorized as no copay physical therapy, traditional physical therapy, or other management.

Rates of surgery/injection, imaging, inpatient services, physician services, emergency services, physical therapy, and other services by episode type, overall and stratified by body region: upper extremity, lower extremity, and spine.

Of 9696 total episodes, 886 (9.1%) were no copay physical therapy, 1261 (13%) were traditional physical therapy, and 7549 (77.9%) were other management. No copay physical therapy episodes had lower imaging rates (38%) compared to traditional physical therapy (47%) and other management (45%) episodes. Inpatient services were similar for no copay (16%) and traditional (12%) physical therapy, both lower than other management episodes (23%). Physician services were higher in other management (100%) and traditional physical therapy (81%) episodes compared to no copay physical therapy episodes (43%). Surgery/injection rates were similar for no copay (11%) and traditional (8%) physical therapy, both lower than other management episodes (27%). Differences by pathway were more pronounced for extremity conditions than for spine conditions.

Rates of no copay program use were modest with those who used the program having lower rates of advanced imaging, injection, and surgery.

Findings may be most relevant for employers, health systems, and payors planning resource allocation and benefit design for similar programs.