Would Uniform Treatment Guidelines be a More Effective WC Tool?
The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine has published a study confirming the assumption that medical treatment in accordance with the current suite of published evidence based guidelines results in shorter disability duration and, ergo, better health outcomes for the subject.
The study used 45,951 indemnity claims with two years of development filed between 2008 and 2013 from the Accident Fund, United Heartland, Third Coast Underwriters and CompWest.
Dave DePaolo at WorkCompCentral.com argues that effective treatment guidelines should not be isolated in different states.
It has always interested me why different jurisdictions have different treatment guidelines since, presumably, all humans possess the same anatomy and biology regardless of location.
Ultimately, the difference between ODG and the American College of Orthopedic and Environmental Medicine guidelines is in the presentation of information and timeliness of incorporation of new research.
Different states, however, essentially succumb to special interests pressure to develop their own guidelines at great expense.
FOLIO
