Seventy-six percent of physicians treating workers compensation patients in Texas in 2021 continued to do so in 2022, according to a report released by the Texas Department of Insurance that found the dip was due to “normal attrition processes among physicians such as retirement, death, changes in practice type and migration.”
When compared with 2017, when 79% of doctors who had treated injured workers in 2016 continued to do so, the department said the changes reveal a steady medical industry, in which newer doctors have replaced those who left. Retention rates by specialty showed that over five years orthopedic surgeons maintained the highest retention rate at consistently over 87%, according to the report.
Overall, 56% of doctors who treated injured workers in 2017 continued to do so in 2022, yet among the top 20% of treating physicians in 2017, representing 90% of total payments,74% remained in 2022, according to the department.