Illinois Near Bottom of Work Loss Data Institute Rankings
Thursday, August 13, 2009 | 0
By Eugene F. Keefe
Synopsis: The Work Loss Data Institute (WLDI) recently announced the release of the much-anticipated 2009 State Report Cards for Workers' Comp, using the most current data available.
Editor's comment: Most Illinois risk managers will note Illinois is ranked at the bottom in a tier with six other states. Most of the states in that tier have administrative systems that some consider biased, such as Oklahoma . We hope the folks at the Illinois State Chamber note the results carefully as we move into an election year in 2010.
These report cards help employers, insurers, third-party administrators, state and municipal governments and consultants answer the questions, "Who is doing well and why?"
WLDI's State Report Cards are based on data from OSHA Form 300's and 200's, which cover all OSHA recordable injuries and illnesses and provide the basis for rating state-by-state workers' compensation performance. The 2009 release adds four more years' worth of data (2003-2006) to the rankings, which makes for a total of seven years of data since it includes statistics collected in the last publication, which was released in 2004.
Now having seven years worth of data, it was possible to track trends and not only give states a grade based on most current performance, but also to give them a "Tier Ranking" based on how they performed on average over the seven years, and whether they have an upward, downward or stable trend. There is data available for 43 states including Illinois, plus Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands .
Similar to past releases of this report, the 2009 State Report Cards also provide five different outcome measures compared among the states for each year:
- Incidence Rates,
- Cases Missing Work,
- Median Disability Durations,
- Delayed Recovery Rate; and
- Key Conditions: Low Back Strain.
An essential requirement for production of this report was the proprietary crosswalk program that has been developed by Work Loss Data Institute, which converts OSHA-reported data into an ICD9 code format. More details on the methodology used are located at http://www.odg-disability.com/pr_src_methods2009.htm.
Iowa performed the best of all the states for 2006 and Minnesota came in a close second. Both states received a grade of "A+" based on an average of their 2006 scores in the five categories above. Illinois came in last, with Wyoming, Rhode Island and New York very close to the bottom. In total, nine of the 43 states received a grade of "F" in 2006. A summary of each grade for all states is shown on a U.S. Map Showing Grades by State, located at http://www.odg-disability.com/pr_src2009_us.htm.
In terms of the tier ranking system, the Tier I states are Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Utah and Virginia. Tier I means the state had an average grade of "B+" or better, and a trend going up or level. Those five states were doing great and continuing to improve.
Eight states fell into the opposite category, Tier VI which means they had an average grade of "D-" or worse, and a trend going down or level. The worst performers for the years 2000-2006 were: Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas and Wyoming. A summary of Tier Rankings for all states is shown on a U.S. Map Showing Grades by State, located at http://www.odg-disability.com/pr_srctiers2009_us.htm.
The WLDI special report is available in both electronic and hard copy formats for $250 each. Click to order: http://www.odg-disability.com/SRC_Order_Form_2009.htm.
Work Loss Data Institute is an independent database development company focused on workplace health and productivity based in Encinitas, Calif . The Official Disability Guidelines product line provides evidence-based medical treatment and disability duration guidelines to improve as well as benchmark outcomes in workers' comp and non-occupational disability. ODG is available in Web-based, textbook and Systems Integration formats, used in all 50 states and worldwide. For more information, visit www.worklossdata.com or contact Work Loss Data Institute at 800-488-5548.
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Eugene F. Keefe is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Keefe, Campbell & Associates.
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