"Nurse Case Managers Can Cut Workers’ Comp Costs"

Marion Martin was featured in the June 2025 issue of Healthcare Risk Management offering extensive insights on the value of and considerations for risk managers using nurse case managers in workers’ compensations cases.

“I recommend every case be assessed for whether nurse case management would be helpful. But certainly, if you’ve got a case that’s going on and you feel like there’s some type of issue that a nurse could help with, then that would also be a time to consider assigning it,” Martin said. “Examples include a complication that was not anticipated or a surgery that has been recommended, and you want to make sure that the post-op recovery goes smoothly.”

Case managers can help to streamline the claim and treatment process in a number of ways thanks to their expertise, such as communicating directly and effectively with treating physicians and focusing the treatment early on with the right type of physicians for earlier resolution of the claim.

In addition to time, Martin shared that research has shown that assigning nurse case management early in a claim results in better outcomes and lower medical costs and overall claim costs.

Still some risk managers balk at the upfront cost. “They see it as an added cost to the file. But I think if you can offset the cost of the nurse case manager by getting the claim resolved more quickly and for less, then you’re probably coming out ahead in the long term,” Martin said. “I think some clients feel like they can manage everything without help from a nurse, and some probably can, but, particularly when it’s more complicated medical issues or issues of causation and preexisting conditions, nurses are particularly helpful with that.”

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