Unlike general medical or pharmacy spending, durable medical equipment (DME) and ancillary service expenditures have not had much focus for cost containment in workers' compensation claims. It certainly isn't a new expense category but rather seems to be more an expense time bomb. When we ask workers' comp payors, "What portion of your total medical dollar is spent on DME?" responses range from gross estimates at best to "I'm really not sure" at worst.

This financial imprecision is striking in our mature cost containment environment. It is most likely because DME expense...  Read more...

Featured in WorkCompWire, July 22, 2013