Travelers Says Chronic Pain Predictor Helps Reduce Surgeries, Opioids

A predictive model used to identify injured workers likely to develop chronic pain has helped reduce opioid use by 30%, the Travelers Cos. said on Wednesday. Travelers calls its model the Early Severity Predictor. The company shares results of the predictor with the injured employee’s physician to help identify effective treatment alternatives such as physical therapy. In some cases, surgery is avoided to help ensure a safe recovery without the prolonged use of opioids, the company said. Since January 2016, surgeries for the company’s workers’ compensation cases h...