Investigating Workers’ Compensation Claims By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. Early thorough investigation of workers' compensation claims can make the difference between paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars and effectively denying and defending the claim. All too often the claim is "accepted" at face value with little investigation. Here, the insurer [...]
Essential Job Functions and Rehabilitation of Injured Workers By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. An essential function job description is one of the crucial elements of the effective rehabilitation of injured workers. The law is clear on the interactive process that is required. The employer must make a reasonable effort to determine [...]
Chronic Pain Syndromes and Occupational Health Professionals By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. When are injured workers likely to develop chronic pain syndromes and what can occupational health professionals do about it? When Will They Develop It? Dr. Roger Choo, in his 2010 JAMA article Will This Patient Develop Persistent Disabling Low [...]
Drug and Alcohol Defense to Workers’ Compensation Claims Employers, insurers, and self-insurers are with increasing frequency interposing drug and alcohol defense to Workers' Compensation Claims. The defense uses the drug and alcohol defenses found in many state workers' Compensation Statutes. A typical statue is one found in Oklahoma which provides [...]
Management of Complex Worker Compensation Cases Joanne Ebert RN, MBA With the increasing complexity of worker compensation cases, a case manager needs an arsenal of tools to enhance effectiveness and return the employee to work. Frequently, physical problems couples with behavioral health are becoming the norm. Joanne Ebert RN, MBA [...]
MEASURING & ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE: EXHAUSTIVE AUDIT OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAMS In order to meet the changing demands of business, occupational health services continue to evolve, offering a wide span of options for businesses. Traditional single-nurse clinics continue to prevail, however the use of advanced practice clinicians have broadened the scope of [...]
Sex & Occupational Injuries and Illnesses By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. There is currently little hard information on the sex differences between men and women suffering workers' compensation injuries. A study in Disability Rehabilitation entitled Understanding the Role of Sex Differences in Work Injuries concluded that: Work-injured women were significantly [...]
Medicare Set-Aside UPDATE By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. One of the hottest and most challenging issue facing employers, insurers, self-insurers and workers' compensation professionals is the settlement of claims and the issue of Medicare set-asides. The Medicare set-aside is a method that can be used in a workers' compensation settlement to [...]
The US Court of Appeals (7th Cir) recently held that an honest suspicion of FMLA abuse was sufficient to fire an employee. The court dealt with the following facts: In 2006, Carrier Corporation set out to remedy an excessive employee absenteeism problem which had developed at its Indianapolis manufacturing plant. [...]
Reducing Medical Costs in Workers' Compensation Cases In litigated Workers' Compensation cases, medical expenses can rise rapidly, and frequently exceed 50% of the total cost of the entire claim. What steps can employers, insurers, self-insurers and other workers' compensation professionals take to reduce these rising medical expenses. A Workers' Compensation [...]