A Framework for Understanding How Variation in Health Care Service Delivery Affects Work Disability Management

Sharpe, Kimberly; McGrail, Kimberlyn; Mustard, Cameron; McLeod, Christopher

doi:10.1007/s10926-021-10016-5

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…We also invited feedback from industry experts and researchers with experience in similar projects conducted in Canada. 35 The proposal included a list of desired claim- and service-level variables that we determined necessary to complete our analyses.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and initial application of a harmonised multi-jurisdiction work injury compensation database

et al. 2023

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Objectives Workers’ compensation schemes provide funding for wage replacement and healthcare for injured and ill workers. In Australia, workers’ compensation schemes operate independently in different jurisdictions, making comparisons of health service use challenging. We sought to develop and deploy a new database of health service and income support data, harmonising data from multiple Australian workers’ compensation jurisdictions. Methods We worked with workers’ compensation authorities from six Australian jurisdictions to combine claims, healthcare, medicines and wage replacement data for a sample of compensated workers with claims for musculoskeletal conditions. We designed a structured relational database and developed a bespoke health services coding scheme to harmonise data across jurisdictions. Results The Multi-Jurisdiction Workers’ Compensation Database contains four data sets: claims, services, medicines and wage replacement. The claims data set contains 158,946 claims for low back pain (49.6%), limb fracture (23.8%) and non-specific limb conditions (26.7%). The services data set contains a total of 4.2 million cleaned and harmonised services including doctors (29.9%), physical therapists (56.3%), psychological therapists (2.8%), diagnostic procedures (5.5%) and examinations and assessments (5.6%). The medicines data set contains 524,380 medicine dispenses, with 208,504 (39.8%) dispenses for opioid analgesics. Conclusions The development of this database presents potential opportunities to gain a greater understanding of health service use in the Australian workers’ compensation sector, to measure the impact of policy change on health services and to provide a method for further data harmonisation. Future efforts could seek to conduct linkage with other data sources.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and initial application of a harmonised multi-jurisdiction work injury compensation database

et al. 2023

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“…7,17,18 While these jurisdictionally varying system-level differences may include workers' compensation and work disability management systems, they may also include healthcare system factors since the former relies on the human and material infrastructure of the latter to function effectively. 19 A number of studies on this topic have applied multilevel modeling techniques to account for how individuals are nested within broader geographic units, such as general practitioner (GP) practices and municipalities, 20 counties, 21 or states. 6,7,22 These studies are able to estimate how much variation in work disability or sickness absence is explained by regional variation, and what factors best explain that variation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the jurisdiction of a workers' compensation claim has been shown to have an independent effect on work disability duration in the United States 16 and Australia, 8 while legislative and policy‐level differences between jurisdiction have been associated with differences in work disability duration 7,17,18 . While these jurisdictionally varying system‐level differences may include workers' compensation and work disability management systems, they may also include healthcare system factors since the former relies on the human and material infrastructure of the latter to function effectively 19 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do regional labor market conditions matter for temporary work disability duration? A multilevel analysis of workers' compensation claims in five Canadian provinces

MacPherson

Amick

Collie

et al. 2023

American J Industrial Med

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Background Research has shown how regionally varying labor market conditions are associated with differences in work disability duration. However, the majority of these studies have not used multilevel models to appropriately account for the hierarchical clustering of individuals nested within contextual units (e.g., regions). Studies that have used multilevel models have focused on privately insured workers or on disability not specifically caused by work‐related injury or illness. Methods Using claims data from five Canadian provincial workers' compensation systems, linear random‐intercept models were used to estimate how much variance in temporary work disability duration ('work disability duration' for brevity) for work‐related injuries and musculoskeletal disorders was due to differences between economic regions, what economic region‐level labor market characteristics were associated with work disability duration, and what characteristics best explained economic region differences in work disability duration. Results Economic region characteristics, such as the unemployment rate and proportion of goods‐producing employment, were independently associated with individual‐level work disability duration. However, economic region variation only accounted for 1.5%–2% of total variation in work disability duration. The majority (71%) of economic region‐level variation was explained by the provincial jurisdiction where the worker lived and was injured. Regional variation tended to be greater for female workers than males. Conclusions The findings suggest that while regional labor market conditions matter for work disability duration, system‐level differences in workers' compensation and health care are more important factors influencing work disability duration. Furthermore, while this study includes both temporary and permanent disability claims, the work disability duration measure only captures temporary disability.

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Cross-Jurisdiction Comparative Research in Work Disability Prevention: Introduction to the Special Series

Collie

2022

J Occup Rehabil

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A Framework for Understanding How Variation in Health Care Service Delivery Affects Work Disability Management

Cited by 3 publications

References 51 publications

Development and initial application of a harmonised multi-jurisdiction work injury compensation database

Development and initial application of a harmonised multi-jurisdiction work injury compensation database

Do regional labor market conditions matter for temporary work disability duration? A multilevel analysis of workers' compensation claims in five Canadian provinces

Cross-Jurisdiction Comparative Research in Work Disability Prevention: Introduction to the Special Series

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