Things Clients Want to Know:
Q.In a system where the Employer must always be reactionary
how can Employers move towards proactive and take control of the claim?
A. Prior to any decision about the compensability of a claim an
employer must investigate whether the Employee was injured in the
course of and arising out of his or her employment. It is becoming
more frequent that injured workers do not disclose all prior medical
treatment and yet it is this very documentation that is crucial to the
determination of whether a claim is compensable. As the number of
Industrial Commission hearings continues to plummet, hearings are
being set sooner, forcing employers to participate in hearings where
increasingly they don’t have all the facts. The single most effective
thing an employer can do to control the timing of the processing of the
claim is to immediately send out a medical release and begin to
request medical records. This places the ball so to speak in to the
Employee’s court.
Without a medical release AND a list of medical providers the Employer
has the right to stop processing of the claim and file a motion to suspend
until the requested documentation is received. While a suspension does
nothing more than delay benefits and processing it allows the employer
the adequate time to mount a successful defense. While most use the
BWC release, many providers have their own release and those will also
need to be secured from the Employee. The Hearing Administrator
presides over any failure to provide a medical release and failure to
respond to medical records request. By the Employer doing their due
diligence, they insure that claims are not processed prior securing all the
facts. Once again, preparation is always key to being successful at the
hearing table. If you have having difficulty securing either medical
releases or medical records please contact us.