TABLE 2.
Health Care Utilization, Costs, and Worker Wage Replacement Benefits Before and After the Policy Change Limiting Access to Early MRI for Workers’ Compensation Claimants With Acute, Nonspecific Low Back Pain
| Prepolicy Period (June 2006-Mav 2010) |
Postpolicy Period (June 2010-Mav 2014) |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measures | 2006/2007 | 2007/2008 | 2008/2009 | 2009/2010 | 2010/2011 | 2011/2012 | 2012/2013 | 2013/2014 |
|
| ||||||||
| Imaging | ||||||||
| Early MRI (%)* | 11.5 | 12.5 | 12.0 | 12.7 | 6.9 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 5.1 |
| Any MRI (%)* | 20.1 | 21.0 | 21.5 | 22.0 | 17.1 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 14.0 |
| CT (%) | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Radiograph (%)* | 12.0 | 11.5 | 11.8 | 12.3 | 14.2 | 15.2 | 15.5 | 14.6 |
| Procedures | ||||||||
| Surgery (%) | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.2 |
| Injections (%)* | 6.1 | 6.1 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 5.9 | 5.6 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Health care costs | ||||||||
| Mean costs ($) | 2775 | 2824 | 3032 | 3241 | 3053 | 2946 | 2820 | 2761 |
| Wage replacement benefits (disability) | ||||||||
| Disability duration (mean) (d)* | 16.1 | 16.2 | 17.4 | 18.6 | 17.4 | 16.1 | 15.7 | 15.1 |
| Worker receiving (%)* | 31.5 | 31.9 | 32.1 | 33.2 | 30.5 | 29.6 | 27.1 | 28.0 |
Time periods extend from June 1 to May 31; each column above represents 1 year (12 mo). Values represent aggregated monthly data summarized by year. Significance is based on comparison of outcomes before and after policy change (independent t tests comparing monthly proportions or means).
CT indicates computed tomography; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.
*
P < 0.01.