Special Reports from Work Loss Data Institute
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    At the request of clients, we are drilling down on key specialties into existing medical literature as well as our lost time datasets, the National Health Interview Survey and Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, to obtain decision-making information on key issues impacting medical absence, productivity and return-to-work.  

Reports are currently as follows:

1)    2012 State Report Cards for Workers’ Comp.   This study provides the most current basis for evaluating and benchmarking state-by-state workers' compensation outcomes, including performance trends over a ten year period.  It was prepared to help employers, insurers, TPA’s, state governments, and consultants answer the questions, “What states are doing well and why?”  The study is based on the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OSHA data from 2000-2009.  This OSHA database covers all OSHA recordable cases within those states in the program. A key 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.  In addition to ratings by state, the report also analyzes the association of specific managed care programs to outcomes, by comparing the average ranking for those participating states with the program to the average ranking for those participating states without the program.  The WLDI special report, entitled 2012 State Report Cards for Workers’ Comp, is provided as an 79-page report with narrative, plus over 50 spreadsheet files with complete detailed backup data that is referenced in the narrative.   It is available in both electronic and hardcopy formats for $250 each.  Note: The electronic format is recommended to facilitate links to the spreadsheet files and the supporting data.  Click here to view the press release, which also has a link to a U.S. map of all states with their overall grades, A, B, C, D, or F.

2)    Disability Benchmarks by Major Diagnostic Category.  This disability benchmarking report has been created to answer the all-important question of "How are we doing?"  The report investigates the differences, norms, distributions and outliers by Major Diagnostic Category (MDC) based on 1,080,699 cases representing 10,630,533 lost workdays from the CDC National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and 30,300,022 cases from the CDC Healthcare Cost & Utilization Project (HCUP).  For each MDC, the report provides mean, median, mode, total cases in the sample, percent of total cases represented by that MDC, total calendar lost workdays, percent of total calendar lost workdays, days per 100 workers, benchmark direct lost-time costs per 100 workers, benchmark total lost-time costs, medical costs, and number of days by percentile depending on the employer’s benefit structure.  This 30-page report is available for $150.  Click here to view the press release.     

3)    OSHA Durations Report: RTW by State, Industry & Age (plus Diagnosis, Body Part, Event, Gender and Length of Service).  Covering the most recent available year 1999, this report investigates the norms, distributions, differences and outliers in days away from work from occupational illness & injury cases across 275 diagnosis classifications, 40 available states, 675 Standard Industrial Classifications, 8 age groups, 130 body part classifications, 236 event classifications, and also by gender and length of service.  The 55-page report from the OSHA database includes 1,702,470 cases, and is available for $250.  Click here to view the press release.

4)    Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS): Determinants of RTW.  From the CDC NHIS database, with a sample size approaching 100,000, this report puts to rest the controversy about the effects of computer work on carpal tunnel syndrome; prevalence of CTS increases by over 50% in these jobs.  It also brings to light some interesting statistics on the demographics of CTS, information that employers should use to take advantage of some segments of the aging workforce as their need for computer work grows.  The 18-page report also shows the impact of several comorbidities that significantly effect CTS, and is available for $50.  Click here to view the press release.

5)    The Hispanic Working Population.  As the fastest growing ethnic/racial group in the US, many employers are concerned about what effect Hispanics will have on their future costs of employee absence.  The news is generally good, but there is variation among the different Hispanic subgroups, and outcomes also depend on company benefit structure.  This report, from the CDC NHIS database, totals 19 pages, and is available for $50.  Click here to view the press release.

    Place an order here (or call 760-753-9992).  New reports will be generated periodically and postings will appear on this Web page.  If you have a suggestion for a subject of inquiry into the CDC National Health Interview Survey or OSHA database for future reports, please use the feedback page, as we will be considering requested topics.

Background on the CDC National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is the principal source of information on the health of the civilian non-institutionalized population of the United States and is one of the major data collection programs of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The National Health Survey Act of 1956 provided for a continuing survey and special studies to secure accurate and current statistical information on the amount, distribution, and effects of illness and disability in the United States and the services rendered for or because of such conditions. The survey referred to in the Act, now called the National Health Interview Survey, was initiated in July 1957. Since 1960, the survey has been conducted by NCHS, which was formed when the National Health Survey and the National Vital Statistics Division were combined.

NHIS data are used widely throughout the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to monitor trends in illness and disability and to track progress toward achieving national health objectives. The data are also used by the public health research community for epidemiologic and policy analysis of such timely issues as characterizing those with various health problems, determining barriers to accessing and using appropriate health care, and evaluating Federal health programs.

The Bureau of the Census under a contractual agreement is the data collection agent for the NHIS. Nationally, the NHIS uses about 400 interviewers, trained and directed by health survey supervisors in each of the 12 Bureau of the Census Regional Offices. The supervisors are career Civil Service employees whose primary responsibility is the National Health Interview Survey. The interviewers are part-time employees, selected through an examination and testing process. Interviewers receive thorough training in basic interviewing procedures and in the concepts and procedures unique to the NHIS  The NHIS questionnaire is conducted using a computer assisted personal interviewer (CAPI). The CAPI version of the NHIS questionnaire is administered using a laptop computer and interviewers enter responses directly into the computer during the interview. This computerized mode offers distinct advantages in terms of timeliness of the data and improved data quality.

For more information:
Data Dissemination Branch
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention                    (301) 458-4636
6525 Belcrest Road, Room 1064                            Internet home page address:
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782-2003                             www.cdc.gov/nchs/

Background on OSHA BLS Survey of OII, Form 200
Occupational Safety and Health Summary data

The Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses is a Federal/State program in which employer's reports are collected annually from about 176,000 private industry establishments and processed by State agencies cooperating with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Summary information on the number of injuries and illnesses is copied by these employers directly from record keeping logs to the survey questionnaire. The questionnaire also asks for the number of employee hours worked (needed in the calculation of incidence rates) as well as its average employment (needed to verify the unit's employment-size class).

Occupational injury and illness data for coal, metal, and nonmetal mining and for railroad activities were provided by the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration. The survey excludes all work-related fatalities as well as nonfatal work injuries and illnesses to the self employed; to workers on farms with 10 or fewer employees; to private household workers; and, nationally, to federal, state, and local government workers.

Injuries and illnesses logged by employers conform to definitions and record keeping guidelines set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. Under those guidelines, nonfatal cases are record-able if they are occupational illnesses or if they are occupational injuries which involve lost work time, medical treatment other than first aid, restriction of work or motion, loss of consciousness, or transfer to another job. Employers keep counts of injuries separate from illnesses and also identify for each whether a case involved any days away from work or days of restricted work activity, or both, beyond the day of injury or onset of illness.

Occupational injuries, such as sprains, cuts, and fractures, account for the vast majority of all cases that employers log and report to the BLS survey. Occupational illnesses are new cases recognized, diagnosed, and reported during the year. Overwhelmingly, those reported are easier to directly relate to workplace activity (e.g., contact dermatitis or carpal tunnel syndrome) than are long-term latent illnesses, such as cancers. The latter illnesses are believed to be under-recorded, thus, understated in the BLS survey.

Survey estimates are based on a scientifically selected sample of establishments, some of which represent only themselves but most of which also represent other employers of like industry and workforce size that were not chosen in a given survey year.

For each survey, the sample used is one of many possible samples, each of which could have produced different estimates. The variation in the sample across all possible samples that could have been drawn is measured by the standard error, for which a range is shown in most tabulations requested by survey users. The data also are subject to non-sampling errors that are not measured. They include characteristic data unavailable for some cases, mistakes in recording or coding the data, and definitional difficulties. To minimize non-sampling errors, the Bureau conducts a rigorous training program for survey coders and continues to encourage survey participants to respond fully and accurately to all survey elements.

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Last modified: May 07, 2013