Insurance & Care NSW’s (icare) medical support panel has reduced waiting periods for injured workers needing treatment approval.

The average medical causation and treatment recommendation timeframe has been cut to five days from six weeks when the panel began as a pilot a year ago.

Medical specialists with expertise in work injuries make up the panel, and they provide case managers with medical case support to fast-track decision-making.

“icare is transforming the NSW workers’ compensation system by reducing the waiting time for a treatment decision upon the claim,” Interim CEO John Nagle said.

“This means injured workers can access treatment much more quickly. We know faster treatment times can improve the long-term injury outcomes for people and lower the risk of secondary associated injuries.”

The panel is now a permanent feature of icare’s customer-centric claims services model.