Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation

Workers' Compensation Medical Issues

Workers' compensation medical issues include treatment protocols, guides and guidelines, integrated care, pharmacy, fee schedules, physician reports, medical access, and quality-of-care measurements. Quality-of-care measurements assess medical outcomes in terms of physical recovery and patient satisfaction. Medical treatment also covers issues of costs to the payer, as well as costs to the system.

• Identifying Risky Opioid Prescribing Practices, UCLA 2012 version
  
• Memorandum on Evaluation of Opioid Prescribing Guidelines Using AGREE II, UCLA 2012 version
  • Public Comments and the Author’s replies version
    
• Use of Compound Drugs, Medical Foods, and Co-Packs in California’s Workers’ Compensation Program: An Overview of the Issues, RAND, January 2011 version
• Medical Care Provided Under California’s Workers’ Compensation Program: Effects of the Reforms and Additional Opportunities to Improve the Quality and Efficiency of Care, RAND, 2011 version
  Separate Appendices document version
• RAND/UCLA Quality-of-Care Measures for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Tools for Assessing Quality of Care and Appropriateness of Surgery, RAND, 2011
  • Summary
  • Full Report
  • Appendices
• Working Safer or Just Working Longer? The Impact of an Aging Workforce on Occupational Injury and Illness Costs, February 2011 version
• Liens Report, January 2011 version
  Stakeholder public comments about Lien Report, Volume 1 version and Volume 2 version
• Evaluating the QME Process: Is it Equitable and Efficient? September 2010 version
• The Whole Worker: Guidelines for Integrating Occupational Health and Safety with Workplace Wellness Programs, 2010 version
• The Frequency, Severity, and Economic Consequences of Musculoskeletal Injuries to Firefighters in California, RAND, 2010 version
• Review of Disability Evaluation Delays and Supplemental QME Reports, June 2010 version
• Regulatory Actions that Could Reduce Unnecessary Medical Expenses Under California’s Workers’ Compensation Program, RAND, 2009 version
• Hospital Emergency Department Services Furnished Under California's Workers' Compensation Program, RAND, 2009 version
• Facility Services for Ambulatory Surgery, RAND, 2009 version
• Summary of January 9, 2009 First Aid Cases Advisory Group Meeting version version
• Inpatient Hospital Services: An Update on Services Provided Under California's Workers' Compensation Program Report, RAND version - Summary version
• Summary of July 16, 2008 Workplace Wellness Roundtable version version
• Workers’ Compensation Medical Payment Accuracy Study, California Department of Insurance, June 2008
• Medical Care Provided California's Injured Workers: An Overview of the Issues, RAND September 2007
• Pay-for-Performance in California's Workers' Compensation Medical Treatment System August 2007
• Report and Recommendations on the Spinal Surgery Second Opinion Process February 2007 version version
• Impact of physician-dispensing of repackaged drugs on California workers' compensation, employers cost, and workers' access to quality care July 2006 version version
• A Report on Health Care Organizations (HCOs) in Workers' Compensation April 2006 version
• Updated and Revised CHSWC Recommendations to DWC on Workers' Compensation Medical Treatment Guidelines April 2006 version
• The Basics About Medical Care for Injured Workers 2006 version
• California Research Colloquium on Workers’ Compensation Medical Benefit Delivery and Return to Work, RAND, 2006 version
• Getting Appropriate Medical Care for Your Injury 2006 version
• Evaluating Medical Treatment Guideline Sets for Injured Workers in California, - Summary RAND 2005 (approved April 2006)
• Evaluating Medical Treatment Guideline Sets for Injured Workers in California, RAND, 2005” version
• Payments for Burn Patients under California's Official Medical Fee Schedule for Injured workers 2005 version
• Payment for Hardware Used in Complex Spinal Procedures under California's Official Medical Fee Schedule for injured Workers, RAND, 2005 version
• Paying for repackaged drugs under the California Workers' Compensation Official Medical Fee Schedule May 2005 version
• CHSWC Recommendations to DWC on Workers' Compensation Medical Treatment Guidelines, November 2004 version
  
• Assessment of 24-hour care options for California, 2004
• Workers' compensation medical care in California fact sheets
• Outline: Estimating the range of savings from introduction of guidelines including ACOEM (revised), December 2003 version version
• Twenty-four hour care, October 2003 version version
• Adopting Medicare Fee Schedules: Considerations for the California Workers' Compensation Program, RAND, 2003 - Summary version - Full Text version
• Workers' Compensation Medical Payment Systems: A Proposal for Simplification and Administrative Efficiency, August 2003 version version

• Executive Summary of the Study of the Cost of Pharmaceuticals in Workers' Compensation June 2000
• Study of the Cost of Pharmaceuticals in Workers' Compensation, June 2000

• Report on the quality of the treating physician reports and the cost-benefit of presumption in favor of the treating physician - Project DescriptionAugust 1999

• Doctors and courts: Do legal decisions affect medical treatment practice? An evaluation of treating physician presumption in the California workers' compensation system November 2002
  

• Summary: Findings and recommendations to the inpatient hospital fee schedule and outpatient surgery study - Report approved February 8, 2002
• Inpatient hospital fee Schedule and outpatient surgery study, report released February 8, 2002
  appendix A
  appendix B
  appendix C
  appendix D
• Addendum to the inpatient hospital fee schedule and outpatient surgery study January 14, 2002
  Public comments and responses

• Evaluating the reforms of the medical-legal process using the WCIRB permanent disability survey, - Project description 2006
• Report: Evaluating the reforms of the medical-legal process using the WCIRB permanent disability survey 1997
• Executive summary: Evaluating the reforms of the medical-legal process using the WCIRB permanent disability survey 1997