Tag Archives: Medical Services

by | February 3, 2015 · 9:09 am

Hospitality Industry Insurance Update: “Will Workers’ Comp Pay For Medical Pot For Back Pain?”

A workers’ compensation judge (WCJ) found Dr. Reeve didn’t prescribe medical marijuana and concluded that the pot program wasn’t reasonable and necessary medical care as required by workers’ compmedicalmarijuana…the appeals court had found the certification required under the Compassionate Use Act by a person licensed in New Mexico to prescribe and administer controlled substances is the functional equivalent of a prescription.

In a state where medical marijuana is legal, a recent court decision has reinforced a previous one regarding pot prescriptions under workers’ comp. 

Miguel Maez suffered injuries to his lumbar spine in February and March 2011 while working for Riley Industrial in New Mexico.

Maez received temporary disability benefits under workers’ comp. Dr. Anthony Reeve treated him for back pain starting in June 2011 and prescribed medication for pain management. He also referred Maez to another doctor for spinal injections.

During a test required for pain management patients, Maez tested positive for marijuana. Dr. Reeve told Maez that if he was going to continue to take marijuana, he needed to have a license for Dr. Reeve to continue administering other narcotics.

For more: http://bit.ly/1BSqcfS

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by | June 17, 2010 · 7:05 am

Hospitality Industry Employee Injury Prevention: “Hands-On” Training Of Latino Employees On “Injury Prevention”, In Both English And Spanish, Will Lower Injury Rates And Save Companies Money In Long Run

“… the company provides monthly, hands-on training to workers in both English and Spanish. The company, which owns franchises of Carl’s Jr., Green Burrito, Papa John’s and Denny’s, has mostly Latino workers.”

“…Gonzalez said providing hands-on training lowered the company’s injury rate by 20 percent this past year.”

Recent data show that Latino workers are more prone to workplace-related fatalities and injuries.

Safety consultant Art Pedroza offered companies an alternative to medical payouts and legal fees: train the workers how to not hurt themselves.

“Latino workers are exposed to more risks and mortalities in the workplace than other workers. That’s more reason to emphasize how to keep them safe,” said Pedroza, outgoing president of the Orange County chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers. He spoke at a chapter meeting held Wednesday at the Anaheim Park Hotel in Fullerton.

For more:  http://www.ocregister.com/news/workers-253791-pedroza-latino.html?cb=1276780048

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by | May 13, 2010 · 7:40 am

California Workers’ Compensation Insurance: Medical Provider Networks Now Account For Over 80% Of Injured Worker Medical Services

The latest data show network providers accounted for 83.1 percent of services in the first 30 days on claims for injuries from the first quarter of AY 2009, and 67.4 percent of the post-30 day services rendered on AY 2008 claims.

(From a CWCI.org release)   A new California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) study shows the percentage of medical services to injured workers delivered by network physicians jumped sharply immediately after Medical Provider Networks (MPNs) were introduced into the workers’ compensation system in 2005, and that both the network utilization rate and the percentage of workers’ compensation medical dollars paid to network providers have continued to climb over the past five years.

Using first-year medical service data from 891,918 California workers’ compensation claims with 2004-2009 injury dates, CWCI measured the percentage of injured worker outpatient medical services rendered by network providers before and after MPNs began operations in January 2005. The results show that the network utilization rate rose from less than half of first-year physician-based services for 2004 job injuries to nearly 2/3 of the services for 2005 injuries – the first claims in which treatment in the initial 12 months could have shifted to MPNs. Furthermore, the data show that the trend toward the use of networks has continued, with network providers accounting for nearly ¾ of physician-based services for 2008 injury claims.

 http://www.cwci.org/press_release.html?id=164

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