Backlog of Surgeries Could Take a Year to Resolve; Opioid Numbers Rise

Once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, it will take almost a year to wade through a backlog of postponed surgeries and other procedures. And after that, recovery for some injured workers could be further affected, thanks to an uptick in opioid use. Those are some of the findings suggested by two reports examining how the coronavirus pandemic has affected medical treatment this year and heading into 2021. MedRisk, one of the largest workers' compensation managed care and rehabilitation companies, released its 2021 Outlook on Tuesday. The report draws on MedRisk's own data as w...