A Look Back at RPC in 2025 and Forward to 2026

RPC had another good year in 2025, our 52^nd year in business. We continue to provide expert reports and testimony to plaintiff and defense attorneys in personal injury litigation, commercial litigation, and administrative proceedings. While we are based in Texas, our practice is national. I am grateful to our clients, staff, and consulting associates for another successful year. The numbers tell part of the story:

• RPC provided services to 244 clients in 2025, with 71 being new clients.
• Our new cases increased by over 20%, from 1,371 in 2024 to 1,650 in 2025. Most of the growth was in cases analyzing reasonableness of charges and reasonable value of medical services. To process the increased volume of records and reports, we added economists, editors, and records management staff to our team.
• We issued 1,677 professional reports in 2025, an increase of 31% over 2024. We also issued 3,679 Section 18.001 counter affidavits, an increase of 37% over 2024.
• Our consultants gave 112 expert depositions in 2025. The number of current RPC staff accepted as expert witnesses increased from eight to nine.
• Most of our clients in commercial litigation cases were healthcare providers and health plans. We provided analysis and testimony in class certifications, qui tam cases, doctor/hospital disputes, payment disputes involving out-of-network providers, and disputes over the interpretation of provider contracts.
• We helped our Certificate of Need clients with applications and opposition projects in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Washington, DC.
• We assisted clients with bids for Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) programs in Georgia and Tennessee.

A notable success in 2025 was the successful defense of a payment method for air ambulance services in Texas workers’ compensation cases. RPC initially developed the payment method in 2014 for Texas Mutual Insurance. The payment method went through a SOAH hearing in 2015 and a series of court decisions resulting in two SOAH hearings for separate air ambulance companies in 2025. Both panels of SOAH administrative law judges found that the RPC payment method complied with state statutes and rules to establish a fair and reasonable payment for these services. While there will be judicial review of the SOAH decisions, Texas Mutual and other carriers have a basis for payment of past and future claims.

RPC also offered numerous educational resources to attorneys throughout the year. In addition to our weekly blog posts, our consultants produced a new white paper, The Cost of Home Health Care, which served as the foundation for our Continuing Legal Education (CLE) webinar, The Reasonable Charge for Home Health Care in Life Care Plans. The webinar is certified in Texas and Louisiana directly and through the State Bar of Texas. Our consultants also presented the white paper at the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals (IARP) Fall Forum. We plan to increase our number of webinars and speaking engagements in 2026.

Finally, RPC is devoting substantial resources to incorporating new technology to increase the quality and efficiency of our services. In 2025, we moved from on-premises servers to the Microsoft cloud to increase capacity and security. We also began experimenting (cautiously) with AI software to manage and summarize medical records and depositions.

Thanks again to all who have contributed to our long-term success. Please contact me (512.371.8166; rluke@rpcconsulting.com) or Roy Bourne (512.371.8026; rbourne@rpcconsulting.com) if we can help you or your clients.

Sincerely,

Ron Luke, JD, PhD
President