Comp researchers track injured workers' satisfaction levels

Nineteen percent of workers in Georgia reported that they had “big problems” getting the services that they or their provider wanted, according to a study released Tuesday by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Workers Compensation Research Institute.

Researchers surveyed the outcomes among injured workers in four states — Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida and Georgia — and examined recovery of physical health and functioning, return to work, earnings recovery, access to medical care, and satisfaction with medical care. 

Among the top findings, according to the institute:

• In Arkansas 8% of workers reported earning “a lot less” at the time of the interview compared with the time of the injury. This percentage matched the median of the four states combined.
• In Connecticut 83% of injured workers said they were “somewhat” or “very” satisfied with their overall workers comp medical care, while 11% said they were “very dissatisfied.”
• In Florida 16% of workers reported not returning to work for at least a one-month period predominantly due to the injury, and 20% reported no substantial return to work within one year of the injury. The medians for the four states were 14% and 17%, respectively.

The research is part of an ongoing, multiyear effort by WCRI to collect and examine data on the outcomes of medical care for workers injured countrywide, according to a statement.

In addition to the four states with worker surveys in 2019, the ongoing studies include interviews previously conducted in 11 other states: Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.