Newswise — On December 7, the State of California's Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) published its intended modifications to the state's medical treatment utilization schedule (MTUS) regulations. The proposed revisions reaffirm that the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's (ACOEM's) Occupational Medicine Practice Guidelines: Evaluation and Management of Common Health Problems and Functional Recovery in Workers, 2nd Edition, are the foundation for the State's Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule.
The draft regulation also proposes to adopt ACOEM's new rigorous strength-of-evidence rating methodology. This enhanced methodology, which ACOEM has adopted for updates to the second edition of its Guidelines, is designed to produce the most rigorous, reproducible, and transparent occupational health guidelines available. According to Tee L. Guidotti, MD, President of ACOEM, "The new methodology ensures that ACOEM's Guidelines are maintained at the highest achievable scientific standards for evidence-based literature."
The 15-day notice of modification was distributed to interested parties with the revised regulations posted on the DWC web site. The public has until 5 pm (PT) on December 22, 2006, to comment.
"We are pleased that California has proposed reaffirming that the ACOEM Guidelines are the foundation for the State's treatment utilization schedule and are confident that the Guidelines will continue to serve as a national model for the best standards of medical diagnosis, evaluation, and medical management in the workplace," said ACOEM Executive Director Barry S. Eisenberg.
Other revisions in this draft of the regulations include the following:
"¢ A definition for the term "functional improvement" has been added to the regulations. The definition is adapted from the medical treatment philosophy that is incorporated in the ACOEM Guidelines."¢ Acupuncture treatment guidelines have been adopted based on the medical treatment guidelines from the state of Colorado, Division of Workers' Compensation. The Division notes in the proposal, "ACOEM remains the foundation for the MTUS, and any supplemental guidelines including the Acupuncture Medical Treatment Guidelines, must be fitted to ACOEM as it provides the framework for the MTUS"¦" "¢ Increased the size of the medical evidence evaluation advisory committee to better represent all treatment procedures and modalities commonly performed in workers' compensation cases. The proposal requires the committee to use the ACOEM methodology to evaluate evidence when making recommendations to the DWC.
The ACOEM created the Guidelines to improve the efficiency and specificity of medical diagnosis of workplace-related injuries and diseases, enhance the effectiveness of treatment, and help occupational and environmental physicians manage growing caseloads. They were first published in 1997 and revised in 2003. The Guidelines are presently undergoing a three-year rotating update. The first update will deal with elbow complaints and is scheduled for publication later this month. Updates to the spine and hip chapters are scheduled for early and late 2007 respectively.
The Occupational Medicine Practice Guidelines: Evaluation and Management of Common Health Problems and Functional Recovery in Workers, 2nd Edition, is published by ACOEM. To inquire about the electronic version or order a print copy of the Guidelines, call ACOEM at 847/818-1800, or visit http://www.acoem.org. The Guidelines are $175 for ACOEM members; $199 for non-members.
RSS