The median cost of workers’ comp claims reported two weeks after an accident is significantly lower than claims reported after that period, according to a report by the National Council on Compensation Insurance.

Otherwise, the report found median claim costs rose 35% when reported in the third week over those reported in the second week.

Median cost for claims reported in week four rose another 12%. The median cost for claims dropped after week four but was still higher than those reported in weeks one and two.

Does this mean staffing firms should work to get claims in sooner? That’s a big of an unknown because the report did not look at cause and effect.

“It certainly is consistent with the idea that the sooner claims are reported, the sooner medical treatment can start and the shorter duration will be overall,” said John Robertson, director and senior actuary at the National Council on Compensation Insurance. However, the report “doesn’t prove that given two otherwise comparable claims, one reported earlier will have less cost than one reported later.”

An exception were claims reported on the day of injury. The median cost per claim for those made on the day of injury was about 25% higher than the median cost for claims reported in the first week. It’s likely those claims include severe injuries that may require extensive medical care and an extended recovery time away from work.

The report includes data from 44 states. Data excluded occupational disease and cumulative injury claims. In addition, fatal and permanent total claims were not used as workers do not return to work.