Key takeaways from the WCI virtual conference

The Workers' Compensation Institute (WCI) is a nonprofit educational organization and its annual conference is considered one of the largest comp education events in the country. Although it was postponed this year, they offered a virtual mini-educational forum. Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Claims processing. Changes in the industry in response to COVID-19 is forcing insurers to change their claim review model and focus more on those claims that drive costs, not the less-expensive injuries, according to Danielle Lisenbey, president of third-party administration solutions for Broadspire Insurance. The widespread adoption of video conferencing and telemedicine suggests that the comp industry should allow more injured workers to self-report certain types of claims. There's also been discussion about automated adjudication or "light-touch" claims handling, reducing the man-hours involved in claims management. Medical-only claims, up to a certain threshold, could be processed without human intervention.
• Modernizing AMA guidelines. American Medical Association's (AMA) has a new way of devising impairment rating guidelines. The decades-long practice of releasing a hardcover edition of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment every ten years will be replaced by online guides that could be updated as often as once a year in a format that allows easy comparison to previous guides, and is searchable and can be annotated. Importantly, stakeholders who disagree with impairment ratings will be able to petition a panel of experts to make changes, much like the rulemaking process employed by state and federal regulators.
  
  The plan not to create the 7th edition but continuously update raises legal issues - would state legislatures have to pass on each change? How does it affect Pennsylvania and Oklahoma that have had significant court cases involving the 6th edition and 18 other states that use earlier editions?
• Injured while working from home. Several defense attorneys discussed why they expect to see more cases of employees claiming they were injured while working from home. Defending such claims can be difficult since they usually lack video evidence or witness testimony to confirm or deny the details. Attorney Emily Edwards, of the Los Angeles firm Manning & Kass, suggested employers establish strict, enumerated guidelines that spell out exactly what constitutes an appropriate work environment, including sending workers an ergonomic checklist and requiring employees to send a photo of the work setting they'll be using at home.
• Medicare set asides. John Jenkins, who manages the Medicare contracts with workers' compensation review contractors for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, advised that documentation is key to avoiding set-asides problems. Common problems include failure to send in full documentation with the terms of the agreement when a settlement is reached, beneficiaries declining procedures without documentation in the record, and failure to indicate conflicts with state laws regarding medical procedures allowed in workers' comp. Also, sometimes medical and pharmacy records don't match payment histories. Actual medical records must be included; independent medical exams cannot substitute for treating physicians' medical documents.
• Fraud and misrepresentation cases. Recent court decisions in Florida show that adjusters need to do an extra level of investigation to avoid attorney fees. Surveillance video without other evidence, inadequate documentation of drug tests, and failure to disprove medical necessity were examples of lost cases. Michael Laseter, technical claims specialist with Helmsman Management Services, said the lesson is to uncover solid evidence or to consider the fraud to be part of a larger strategy, such as a smaller settlement. Communication between the carrier and the employer can also be important in avoiding some attorney fees.