The Specialties Hardest to Find for Injured Workers

Last updated September 2026 · Data: WC Providers Directory

Workers’ comp provider supply is highly concentrated: the top 5 specialties make up 58% of all 8,446 providers, while 387 of the directory’s 450 specialties have fewer than 10 providers nationwide — the access gaps injured workers most often hit.

Specialty scarcity study: quick answer

Workers' comp provider supply is concentrated in a few specialties, while many specialty pages have very small national supply.

  • The top 5 specialties account for 58% of listed providers.
  • 387 specialties have fewer than 10 providers nationwide.
  • Among indexable scarce specialties, Allergy & Immunology, Pediatrics has 3 listed providers.

Most common specialties (where supply concentrates)

SpecialtyProvidersShare
Orthopedic Surgery1,69220.0%
General Medicine1,03612.3%
Occupational Medicine88510.5%
Pain Management84810.0%
Anesthesiology4535.4%

The scarcest specialties (10 or fewer providers)

These specialties have a dedicated directory page but very thin provider supply — the hardest for injured workers to find in-network.

SpecialtyProviders
Allergy & Immunology, Pediatrics3
Anesthesiologist; Subspecialty Pain Medicine3
Chiropractic; Other3
Dermatology, Allergy & Immunology3
Ear/nose/throat (ent)3
Family/general Practice; Other3
Geriatrics, Internal Medicine3
Hematology, Oncology3
Hospitalist3
Neurology, Legal Medicine3
Neurology, Pediatric Neurology3
Neurology, Sleep Medicine3
Nurse Practitioner3
Occupational Medicine, Toxicology3
Oncology3
Ophthalmology; Other3
Orthopedic Surgery - Shoulders3
Otolaryngology (ENT)3
Otolaryngology, Sleep Medicine3
Pain Management - Medicine, Addiction Medicine3
Pain Management; Physiatry/physical Medicine3
Pathology, Anatomic Pathology3
Pathology, Forensic Pathology3
Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics3
Pediatric Gastroenterology3

Methodology

Counts are aggregated from the WC Providers Directory directory after de-duplication and canonical specialty normalization. "Scarce" specialties are those with a dedicated page (≥3 providers) but 10 or fewer providers nationwide. Scarcity here reflects directory supply, not regional demand. See the methodology page.

Citation: "WC Providers Directory, The Specialties Hardest to Find for Injured Workers (2026)." Published under CC BY 4.0.

Specialty scarcity — frequently asked questions

What is the most common workers’ comp specialty?

Orthopedic Surgery is the most common, with 1,692 providers in the directory.

How concentrated is workers’ comp provider supply?

Supply is concentrated: the top 5 specialties account for 58% of all 8,446 providers, while 387 of 450 specialties have fewer than 10 providers each.

Which workers’ comp specialties are hardest to find?

Among specialties with their own directory page, the scarcest include Allergy & Immunology, Pediatrics (3), Anesthesiologist; Subspecialty Pain Medicine (3), Chiropractic; Other (3), Dermatology, Allergy & Immunology (3), Ear/nose/throat (ent) (3) — each with 10 or fewer providers nationwide.

Can I cite or reuse this data?

Yes — published under CC BY 4.0. Cite "WC Providers Directory" with a link to this page.