The role of managed care in work-related injuries

Many opportunities exist today for orthopedic surgeons in the treatment and management of work-related injuries. Physicians wishing to enter or participate in this market must realize that the role of the physician in the treatment of the injured worker has expanded from one of being solely the care giver to being a patient manager, a problem solver, and a communicator. A number of years ago, many orthopedic surgeons missed out on managed care contracting for health maintenance organizations because they thought they could survive without it. They soon learned the challenges of sitting on the sidelines. Whether we like it or not, managed care for work-related injuries is here and its likelihood for going away is about zero. If your state has not yet adopted utilization management standards or managed care for workers' compensation-enabling legislation, when you wake up tomorrow they may have done so. Because of its relative embryonic development, there are exceptional opportunities for practitioners to take active roles in shaping the models that will serve employees and employers in the year 2000. Physicians who are interested in the treatment of injured workers have a unique opportunity right now to develop relationships in the managed workers' compensation arena. Payment and patient referrals for workers' compensation may turn out to be more attractive financially than many of the contracts currently in place with health maintenance organizations and other general health plans. Physicians willing to partner with employers and other players in the workers' compensation arena currently face some challenging, rewarding, and exciting opportunities. In the immortal words of Hippocrates, "Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes a matter of opportunity."3 It is unclear whether Hippocrates ever imagined our current level of science, practice, and organization, but it is clear the opportunities to be an active participant in the changes occurring in workers' compensation are as real today as they were in 1973 when then President Nixon passed the Health Maintenance Organization Act.