RETURN TO WORK IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. What can employers do to help facilitate return to work for injured workers? Attorney Richard Swanson, speaking at the SEAK National Workers’ Compensation and Occupational Medicine Conference, suggested the following return to work strategies for employers: Employer RTW Strategies Contact [...]
FCEs IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CASES By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. A functional capacity evaluation is undertaken to determine what functional abilities an injured worker has and to help determine if he/she is ready to return to full duty or modified work. Jill Galper PT, speaking at the SEAK National Workers' Compensation [...]
ORTHOPEDIC OCCUPATIONAL KNEE INJURIES By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. When are knee injuries compensable under workers' compensation? Often overlooked in the analysis of the claim is the mechanism of injury. What actually happened to the claimant and his knee at work? For ligament injuries, a direct blow can cause: Bone bruises [...]
Carpal Tunnel Workers’ Compensation Claims By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. Carpal tunnel workers' compensation claims are not as prevalent as most Workers' Compensation and occupational health professionals have been lead to believe. The recent California Workers' Compensation Institute study indicates that over an 11 year span carpal tunnel claims accounted for [...]
Causation of Workers’ Compensation Claims & Occupational Injuries By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. One of the best methods for employers, insurers, and self-insurers to reduce workers' compensation costs is to deny claims that are truly not work-related. The confusion about which claims are truly defensible costs employers millions of dollars a [...]
Lifting Programs Reduce Workers’ Compensation Costs By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. A recent study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that lifting programs do reduce workers’ compensation costs in long-term care facilities. The article, Safe Listing Programs at Long-Term Care Facilities and Their Impact on Workers’ Compensation [...]
Mechanism of Injury: What every Occupational Health Professional Needs to Know An aged employee stands all day driving a stand up lift and reports knee pain to the Occupational Health Nurse. Through the treatment provided, the medical provider diagnoses the injured worker with a knee sprain and meniscus tear. During [...]
The Defense and Evaluation of Traumatic Brain Injury Cases By: Susan Conley, Esq Arthur Chapman Kettering Smetak and Pikala In the context of traumatic brain injury cases (TBI), attention has been drawn to these injuries, in part, due to head injuries to athletes. We are seeing cases where athletes sustain [...]
How Physicians Can Negotiate to Buy a Medical Practice The opportunity has arrived. Whether you have been in practice for many years or are a freshly graduated resident or fellow, the opportunity to acquire the practice of a retiring physician can be very appealing—and nerve wracking. This is likely one [...]
How to Negotiate to Sell a Medical Practice It is commonplace for a physician or group of physicians to sell their medical practice to a third party. Regrettably, physicians often fail to take the necessary steps to protect their interests and to maximize the benefits of the transaction. Medical practices [...]