Cases that hold maximum medical improvement (MMI) as a bright line test to end all TTD “should no longer be followed,” according to the Missouri Supreme Court in Greer v Sysco Food Services , SC 94724 (Mo. 2015) 2015 MO Lexis 248 (Lexis Advance), 2015...
Here’s the latest batch of advanced postings for the October 2015 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com and Lexis Advance subscribers can link to the case to read the complete headnotes and summaries. © Copyright 2015 LexisNexis. All rights reserved...
A new analysis of 2015 independent medical review (IMR) outcomes shows there was no significant reduction in IMR volume in the first quarter of this year, even though the independent medical reviewers continue to concur with the utilization review (UR) physician’s...
An Oregon court held substantial evidence supported a decision by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that medical services requested by a claimant were not compensable under Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.245(1)(a), which requires the employer to provide “medical services...
The Second Injury Fund denied a claim of a worker who sat in a chair in the lunch room. When the chair broke he hurt his back. The Fund argued the worker failed to prove a work risk that he was not equally exposed to away from work Wright v. Roto-Rooter, 2015 MO...
Average facility fees paid to ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) for treatment of injured workers in California have declined 27% per episode and 29% per procedure since fee schedule changes mandated by SB 863 were adopted in 2013 according to updated data from...
The 4th District Court of Appeal has issued a decision raised to it on a question on the “retroactive” application of the Independent Bill Review provisions of SB 863 and whether the legislature intended to remove from the W.C.A.B. jurisdiction to address...
Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter , is a leading commentator and expert on the law of workers’ compensation. An important, but overlooked element associated with the swelling group of...
Study shows return to work, work retention rates dramatically improve Measured by such yardsticks as return-to-work, work retention and reoperation rates, the success of lumbar surgeries in the Workers’ Compensation (“WC”) system could be fairly characterized...
An employer has an obligation to provide medical treatment for a work-related injury when it received a request for care even if the employer has not finished its investigation, according to the recent court of appeals case, Downing v. McDonald's Sirloin Stockade...