Tragedy has a way of spurring unexpected outcomes bringing people together from all walks of life and disciplines. Here are my observations on the paradigm shifts happening throughout workers’ compensation partly due to the global tragedy that is the opioid epidemic.
Another important July 1st deadline has come and gone for the California workers’ compensation community. As of mid-June, nearly half of California’s Utilization Review Organizations had yet to complete the accreditation process required by newly modified Labor Code section 4610(g)(4). Is the crawl to compliance due to a complacent system culture or a costly and complex accreditation process?
Health care information technology may be making the world smaller in many ways, but wide divides remain in the care and claims continuum. Bridging the gaps in the workers’ compensation space requires a conscientious focus on collaboration, human to human. Collaboration effectively creates an interactive and adaptable system capable of delivering improved patient health outcomes.
The U.S. House of Representatives has held numerous information-gathering meetings. The divide that exists between state and federal government has never been more clear as the feds turn their focus on the success that state workers’ compensation systems are having in the war on opioid abuse. But, are all aspects of the crisis being considered?
Pennsylvania, who is hosting one of the fiercest battles in the war on opioids, will not adopt a nationally recognized evidence-based medicine drug formulary. Is this the outcome of Pennsylvania politics, the right move to preserve the doctor to patient relationship?
The importance of the National Guideline Clearinghouse™ (NGC) cannot be validated by someone continuing the work. Its importance was established in 2008 by U.S. Congress. Without appropriate oversight in the development of this content, anything might be called “quality” imperiling the well-being of injured workers. Here is my take on why “WorkComp Needs Quality Measures for Clinical Practice Guidelines”.
Sitting in a crowded legislative committee and listening to parties debate a bill inspired me to ask myself a very important question: When all is said and done and my actions are measured, am I truly a worker advocate? The… Read More ›
Is there a correlation between America’s increased #Suicide rates and the #OpioidEpidemic? The negative effects of inappropriately prescribed #Opioids on public health are multiple. However, the data shows that there is a promising #PatientCentric solution that is highly effective in preventing the inappropriate first exposure to opioids for #Patients.
In the Workers’ Compensation system, variances from one state to another seem endless. The source of variability is often the disparity in resources available to state regulators across jurisdictions. Is it reasonable to suggest that the varying availability of resources from state-to-state present limitations for regulators in their pursuit to appropriately research prospective public policy that will improve system outcomes?
Would establishing national standards help level the playing field for states having to make due with less available resources?
The challenges experienced in the care and claim continuum are plentiful and very difficult to navigate. Providers, insurers, employers, and employees deserve content measured and deemed trustworthy according to non-bias standards to guide injured workers to recovery.
With the deep knowledge base and hands on experience of how quickly a workers’ compensation claim can go into free fall toward catastrophic health and recovery outcomes for the injured worker, why aren’t more “thought-leaders” challenging the status quo to identify inadvertent, or in some cases intended, consequences in their respective areas of expertise? Let me know your thoughts on “Why Standards Matter”.
Carlos Luna News 