The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) published a new report on medical treatment dynamics by examining how time to first medical treatment and treatment duration changed from Accident Year 2016 to 2023 and how the changes in these two measures relate across jurisdictions.

The report found that initial medical treatment is occurring later in most jurisdictions. From 2016 to 2023, average time to initial treatment increased by two days, with a larger increase of eight days for first physical therapy and 10 days for first major surgery. The share of claims treated on the injury date decreased from 48% to 43%, and among claimants treated after the injury date, more received initial care in non-facility settings where initial treatment typically occurred later but overall medical utilization was lower.

Treatment duration remained stable overall, despite considerable variation across jurisdictions. The average treatment duration was 217.8 days in 2016 and 218 days in 2023. Although the time to first medical treatment increased modestly, treatment duration did not, suggesting that slower time to initial care did not automatically translate into longer treatment pathways once care was initiated.

The NCCI found that the relationship between changes in timing of first treatment and treatment duration differs by claim cohort. There did not appear to be a relationship between the two measures across all lost-time claims. Positive relationships were observed for physical therapy and major surgery claims, where jurisdictions experiencing longer time to first treatment also tended to experience longer treatment duration.