Electro, thermal & radiofrequency denials at external review

• the question matters

  The outcome turns on which question was put to the reviewer: 67.1% on medical necessity (n=85) against 49.6% on experimental/investigational (n=125) — a gap of 17 points inside the same treatment class.

• rising

  It has risen over the published record: 18.8% in 2002 against 56.8% in 2025. What drove that is not in this data — the file holds outcomes, not who chose to appeal or how plans changed their own review.

• concentrated

  45% of these disputes involved orthopedic & musculoskeletal alone (n=95, 46.3% overturned), so the headline figure for electro, thermal & radiofrequency is largely that pairing.

California requires each published decision to carry “a detailed case summary that includes the specific standards, criteria, and medical and scientific evidence, if any, that led to the case decision” (Health & Safety Code § 1374.33(h)(1)(K)). These are the elements our extraction found in this class, split by how the decision came out.

Read as description, not instruction. These are patterns in what reviewers wrote, not steps to follow, and no combination of them predicts an outcome. Only codes that cleared the validation gate appear — thirteen did not.

• FDA—27
• American Urological Association—7
• American Psychiatric Association—5
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists—3
• NCCN—3
• American Academy of Dermatology—1
• American College of Rheumatology—1

A rate here is the outcome of decisions that named the authority, not the effect of naming it. Reviewers cite the standard they applied; the citation and the outcome share a cause.

• Orthopedic & musculoskeletal46.3%95
• CNS & neuromuscular70.0%30
• Mental health—20
• Endocrine & metabolic—14
• Genitourinary & kidney—13
• Cardiac & circulatory—11
• Cancer—8
• Skin—7

Browse all condition classes · Pick your own pair

• Back Pain39.6%53
• Depression—17
• Other—16
• Thyroid Problems—12
• Osteoarthritis—10
• Varicose Veins—8
• Knee Problem/Pain—7
• Apnea/Sleep Apnea—6

• Experimental/Investigational49.6%125
• Medical Necessity67.1%85

Medical-necessity review asks whether the care is needed. Experimental/investigational review asks whether it is likely to be more beneficial than standard therapy — a harder statutory test, and the rates show it.