Most workers' compensation surgical cases were postponed as states responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Frank Raneri, senior vice president of Paradigm Specialty Networks, in an article on WorkCompWire.
Three takeaways from Mr. Raneri:
1. At least two-thirds of all workers' compensation surgeries involve knee or shoulder repair. While these surgeries are essential to the injured worker's recovery, they are rarely emergent.
2. Surgical dates of service for orthopedic and spine patients dropped 64 percent from Jan. 1 to April 15 but rose 182 percent from April 16 to June 15, according to Paradigm Specialty Networks data.
3. The recovery was "V-shaped" due to an expected backlog of surgical cases. As of July 1, ASCs were operating at 75 percent capacity or higher.
"By all accounts, the outpatient and ambulatory surgery market avoided the worst-case scenario at the time by both averting an overwhelmed health system and catastrophic economic losses," Mr. Raneri said.