Medical-Legal Report Writing & Defensibility Program
Disability Impairment Rating (DIR – 4 hours)
Pain Related Impairment
Join us as we delve into the nuances of pain impairment assessment and its relationship with functionality. Contrary to popular belief, if pain does not significantly interfere with an individual's ability to carry out common activities of daily living, it may not qualify for a 1%, 2%, or 3% increase in whole person impairment - according to Chapter 18 of the AMA Guides. Learn how to resolve the dilemmas surrounding pain-related impairment evaluation. Our live video session is designed to empower Qualified Medical Evaluators with the knowledge and tools needed to make accurate and fair assessments. Join us now for this insightful session.
When and How to Add (Versus Combine) Impairments
The Kite Decision is important for Qualified Medical Evaluators to understand. In cases where the examinee is left with Impairments of multiple body parts, it may be more accurate to add those Impairments, versus combining them through the use of the Combined Values Chart. In Today's Live ZOOMinar sessions, well respected Applicant Attorney Mason Bledsoe explains the many opportunities to add Impairments and, he shows how to write this argument up within the body of your Report.
The Hikida Effect
In certain circumstances, injured workers suffer a Permanent Disability as a result of the medical treatment that he/she received. An example of this is a total knee replacement. The AMA Guides provides an Impairment Rating for this exact surgical procedure. Another example would be amputation - the Impairment rating for amputation is due to the surgical procedure. These are just a couple of examples and there are many many more circumstances where, as a result of the medical treatment received, an injured worker ends up in WORSE condition due to the medical treatment. In these cases, the Apportionment of the Permanent Impairment has an exact handling and, in this video, Applicant Attorney Jon Marlowe shows you the two Apportionment pathways that will resolve 99% of all cases.
12 Hour Report Writing Course – Sessions 2, 3, 4, 5
12 Hour Report Writing Course - Session 2
In this session of the program we review what the law, what the 2016 Physician's Guide, and what the AMA Guides have to say about what topics, items, and issues need to be included and discussed in today's QME Report and, we create a hybrid Template that includes all of the required elements specific to California Workers Compensation.
12 Hour Report Writing Course - Session 3
In this brief session we review the Administrative Director's Disability Evaluation Guidelines as described in CCR 43-46 and, we begin our Introduction to 1) the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment - 5th Edition and 2) the QME Regulations CCR 1 - 159. These are important sections of the law for all QMEs to be familiar with, and to review regularly.
12 Hour Report Writing Course - Session 4
This session begins a 3 parts series entitled "The Language of Reports." In these next 3 session we begin to develop the new vocabulary you will be using and mastering in the completion of your QME Reports. In this session, we trace the flow of the QME Report through the workers compensation system, all the way to a successful resolution of the claim/case.
12 Hour Report Writing Course - Session 5
This is the second video in the 3 part series "The Language of Reports." In this session, we review the 4 laws that govern your "Review of Records", we review how to compose the "Occupational History section of your Report, and we review the AMA Guides and the many diagnostic tests and studies that are required in the evaluation of Permanent Impairments.
12 Hour Report Writing Course Session 8-10
12 Hour Report Writing Course – Session 8
California Code of Regulations 10682 and the 2016 Physician's Guide give us reference to what must be included in the QME Report. We also get some direction from the AMA Guides for those cases that involve a Permanent Impairment evaluation. In Today's session, we begin Session #1 of "The Anatomy of a Good Report" by beginning at the beginning of the Report and going through it section by section to see how the Report is constructed, according to the rules. In this Session, we review the INTRODUCTION, OPENING STATEMENT, HISTORY, RELEVANT MEDICAL HISTORY, and REVIEW OF RECORDS sections of the Report.
12 Hour Report Writing Course – Session 10
This is Session #3 of the topic "The Anatomy of a Good Report." In this Session, we conclude our review of the high quality QME Report by reviewing CAUSATION, PERMANENT & STATIONARY, PERMANENT IMPAIRMENT, APPORTIONMENT, FUTURE MEDICAL CARE, and WORK STATUS sections of the Report.
Anti-Bias Training (ABT – 2 hours)
Combatting Bias in the QME Evaluation 2
Bias, stereotyping, and discrimination in the medical legal evaluation has the unintended consequence of opinions and conclusions by the QME that are NOT accurate. In other words, the opinions and conclusions of the QME - when influenced by implicit and unconscious bias - are INACCURATE. Because ACCURACY in workers compensation is King, the DWC has a plan to eliminate the pernicious impact of bias on the QME's opinions and conclusions.
Combatting Bias in the QME Evaluation 6
Black and Hispanic workers suffer frequent industrial injury because these groups are disproportionately represented in high injury risk occupations - such as construction labor. However, statistics indicate that these groups of injured workers received fewer workers compensation disability benefits than their white colleagues in the same industry for the same severity of injury. Here we receive two actual workers compensation studies that reveal that racial bias results in inaccurate (translation = low) monetary benefits for minority injured workers.
Workers’ Compensation Case Law (WCCL – 2 hours)
Causation, Case Law and the QME – Session 5
In Today's Live Video we review several actual cases that involve unique situations and scenarios involving difficult and disputed AOE determinations. In most of the cases, the injury itself was not disputed but rather, industrial causation (AOE) for the injury was the dispute that brought the case to the Judge, the WCAB, or even the Court of Appeals.
• The En Banc Decision of Nunez v. DMV
When the WCAB issues an en banc decision, it is a big deal. This signals a significant and controversial legal decision that is now binding on all workers compensation judges, and all Appeals Board Panels. In Nunes vs. The Department of Motor Vehicles, the controversial issue revolved around - guess what - Apportionment, and its application to the vocational evidence supporting a 100% loss of future earning capacity for Ms. Nunes. This raises the question, "What is the difference between 'medical apportionment", and "vocational apportionment?'"
The New Medical-Legal Fee Schedule – Part 8
The new medical legal fee schedule is a fascinating study of the operation of incentives on the parts of both the QMEs, and the Claims Payers. Like any game, the parties seeks to use the rules to gain an advantage and to realize some benefit. Unfortunately, in some instances, the parties' interpretation of the use of the new medical legal fee schedule can erode the QME's profitability. Here is how to NOT let that happen to you!
online course examination
QME Ethics, Bias Awareness, and Professional Judgment Program
Final Mixed Course Examination
25 Questions | Passing Score: 70% (18 correct)
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