2022 update: To learn more about what’s new in catastrophic claim management for burn injuries, please see our blog: 2022 National Burn Awareness Week: Raising Awareness and Improving Outcomes for Those With Burn Injuries

2020 update: To learn more about severe burn injuries, please see our webinar: Surviving the Unsurvivable: Optimal Clinical and Claims Outcomes in Severe Burn Cases

In 2011, almost 19,000 people were burned on the job (both thermal and chemical burns), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers with chemical burns missed a median of three days from work and those with thermal burns missed a median of five days.

Those numbers belie the complex nature and difficult path to recovery for those suffering severe burn injuries. The road to recovery can be especially  arduous  for workers with third- or fourth-degree burns, those with burns over large areas of the body, or being associated with additional complicating factors like smoke inhalation or pre-existing medical conditions.

Complex costs for complex needs
According to the National Business Group on Health, fires and burns in the year 2000 caused $6.2 billion in productivity losses. In 2010 dollars adjusted for inflation, that’s $8.6 billion. Those productivity losses are highest among men 24-44 years of age and women 45-64 years of age. Hospitalizations for burns represent only 1 percent of all injuries in the U.S., but treatments cost more than $10.4 billion per year, according to the same source. Complications associated with burn injuries can arise despite early burn management, and when they do treatment costs grow exponentially. Even low-intensity treatment for moderate burns may cost $206,853 or more, if there are complications. For severe burns treated without complications, the average cost tops the million dollar mark at $1,617,345. With complications, a severe burn can cost more than $10 million to treat successfully.

Frequency and cost of top 5 burn complications
The top five complications with clinical relevance to burn healing are:

• Disfigurement, scarring, or contracture, occurring in 66 percent of cases, add $28,000-35,000 to treatment costs.
• Psychological complications, occurring in 57 percent of cases, add $16,000-75,000 to treatment costs.
• Fragile skin or skin breakdown, occurring in 55 percent of cases, add $38,000-107,000 to treatment costs.
• Infections, including pneumonia, sepsis, and other organ failure from infection problems, occurring in 35 percent of cases, add $58,000-120,000 to treatment costs.
• Delayed wound healing or skin graft failure, occurring in 32 percent of cases, add $37,000-110,000 to treatment costs.

Other major burn complications include wound infection, chronic pain, inhalation injury, and cataract or other corneal injury. A patient may experience just one of the aforementioned complication or several over the course of recovery to further compound medical costs.

To find out more about Paradigm’s Systematic Care Management^SM model, which has been shown by independent research to improve severe burn outcomes by as much as 40 percent over industry benchmarks, contact us through our website or call (800) 676-6777. We also invite you to join us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.