At this conference, one of the most timely discussions I attended focused on a challenge that continues to affect nearly every corner of workers’ compensation: access to care.
This panel took a different angle than the Employer Panel earlier in the conference. While the employer discussion focused more on operational challenges inside organizations, this session explored the broader system level barriers that make it difficult for injured workers to actually get treatment.
The panel brought together perspectives from regulators, insurers, and employers, which made the discussion especially valuable. Instead of staying theoretical, the conversation focused on what access problems actually look like in the field and what organizations are doing right now to address them.
What stood out to me most is that access to care is no longer just a provider network issue. It is a workforce issue, a communication issue, a systems issue, and in many cases, a community infrastructure issue.
The barriers are not limited to one geography or one type of employer. They appear in rural towns, in major cities, in panel states, in employee choice states, and even in markets where provider directories look full on paper but functionally offer very few real options.
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One thing became very clear during the discussion: in workers’ compensation, delays in care are not just inconvenient. They directly affect recovery, return to work, trust in the system, and ultimately claim outcomes.
Issues Employers Face With Access to Care
One of the most useful parts of the conversation was how honestly the panel described the reality on the ground. Jessica Moyers of Hershey shared an example that illustrates how dramatically access to care can vary depending on location.
Most people associate Hershey with Pennsylvania, but the company operates facilities across multiple states and environments. In some locations, access to care is relatively easy. In others, it is anything but.
Moyers described a facility in Bluffton, Indiana, a town with fewer than ten thousand residents. The community has only one physician, a small hospital without an emergency department, and limited specialty services. When an injury requires specialized care, the solution is often simple but logistically challenging.
“We drive,” Moyers explained when discussing how they get employees access to treatment when local options do not exist.
That example highlights an important reality. Access to care is not an abstract policy issue. It becomes very real when an injured worker needs a specialist, when there is no local provider for a dental or eye injury, or when the nearest appropriate care requires transportation planning just to make treatment possible.
The panel also discussed a growing phenomenon sometimes referred to as “ghost listings.”
Maria Capelli-Schellpfeffer of Liberty Mutual described the issue this way: providers may appear in directories as participating physicians, but when someone attempts to schedule an appointment, they discover the provider is no longer accepting workers’ compensation patients.
As she explained, “You look at the list, and the providers are there, but when you reach out, they’re not seeing workers’ comp patients.” This disconnect between listed providers and actual availability is becoming an increasingly common challenge nationwide.
Why This Matters More in Workers’ Comp
Waiting weeks for a routine appointment is frustrating in group health. In workers’ compensation, the consequences can be much greater.
Capelli-Schellpfeffer emphasized that delays in treatment directly affect recovery potential and return to work.
“If scheduling a surgery takes weeks or months, that delay has a direct impact on the injured worker’s ability to recover,” she noted.
When injured workers cannot access care quickly, several things begin to happen. Recovery slows. Employee frustration grows. Trust in the system declines. And once trust erodes, the claim becomes harder to manage at every step.
The panel repeatedly returned to this point. Access to care is not just about provider convenience. It shapes the injured worker’s entire experience with the workers’ compensation system.
Practical Solutions Employers Are Using
What I appreciated about this session was that it did not pretend there is one universal solution. Instead, the panel highlighted practical interventions organizations are already using. One approach is building relationships with providers before injuries occur.
Employers are increasingly inviting physicians and therapists into their facilities to better understand the work environment and the physical demands of the job.
Another solution discussed was transportation planning for rural locations. When care options are limited locally, simply ensuring the injured worker can travel to appropriate providers can remove a major barrier.
Technology is also playing a growing role. Several panelists highlighted the value of 24/7 nurse triage programs combined with telemedicine, which allow injured workers to immediately speak with a clinician who can guide them to the appropriate next step. These tools can be particularly valuable in rural areas or for mobile workforces.
The discussion also touched on direct contracting, an approach becoming more common as organizations seek to fill gaps where traditional networks are no longer sufficient. Rather than relying solely on PPO networks, employers are increasingly forming direct relationships with specific providers to guarantee access when it matters most.
On-Site Clinics and the Culture of Care
The conversation also included a candid discussion about on site clinics. Moyers explained that Hershey operates many facilities with on-site nurses and medical resources. Interestingly, she noted that the financial return on investment from a workers’ comp perspective is not always clear.
However, the cultural impact is significant. Employees know there is someone on site who understands their work environment and can help immediately if something goes wrong. That kind of support sends a powerful message. It reinforces that the company cares about employee health and safety, not just claim administration. In many cases, the most valuable benefit of these programs is not cost savings. It is the trust they create.
My Biggest Takeaway: Communication Is Still the Foundation
By the end of the session, my biggest takeaway was surprisingly simple. For all the discussion around networks, telemedicine, rural healthcare funding, and provider shortages, the most consistent answer to the question of what needs to improve was communication.
Jessica Moyers emphasized that employees need clear guidance on what to do after an injury.
“Communication as a whole,” she said, “would help a thousandfold.”
That communication includes how injuries are reported, where employees should go for treatment, how information flows between providers and employers, and what steps happen next in the claim process. The panel also emphasized the importance of communication between system stakeholders.
Jeff Nelson, Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation at the Texas Department of Insurance, encouraged industry participants to speak up when regulatory barriers create problems.
“We want a system that works for everybody,” Nelson said. “If there are things we can improve, we need to know about them.”
That kind of collaboration between employers, regulators, and providers will be critical if the industry hopes to close the growing access gaps.
FREE DOWNLOAD: “Step-By-Step Process To Master Workers’ Comp In 90 Days”
What Matters Going Forward
This session did not offer a single silver bullet, but it did offer something better: a realistic picture of the challenge and a practical sense of where progress can happen. Access to care in workers’ compensation is becoming more localized, more operational, and more dependent on real collaboration. Provider directories alone will not solve it. Networks alone will not solve it. Technology alone will not solve it.
What will move the needle is a more connected approach that combines communication, creative care access strategies, stronger employer-provider relationships, and better data about where the true gaps actually exist.
If the Employer Panel earlier in the conference highlighted how organizations are redesigning their internal claims programs, this session reinforced that solving access to care will require changes across the entire workers’ compensation ecosystem.
Access to care is not a side issue. It is one of the core factors shaping recovery, claim performance, and trust in the system itself.
Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
Workers’ Comp Roundup Blog: https://blog.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/
Injury Management Results (IMR) Software: https://imrsoftware.com/
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FREE DOWNLOAD: “Step-By-Step Process To Master Workers’ Comp In 90 Days”
