Opioids and Workers’ Compensation

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Millions of people in the United States are addicted to or dependent on prescription painkillers. It is important to note that not everyone dependent on painkillers have gotten there by choice. Many of these people started off with an injury, and were given a prescription of opioids or opiates from a physician for the pain.

We are in the midst of what has been called the “Opioid Epidemic” in the United States, which is a result of a web of factors. In this article, we will explore the causes of this epidemic, and how physicians in work comp have methods in place to prevent over-prescribing these powerful drugs to injured workers.

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RateFast Podcast: Welcome Change, Make Dollars, with DaisyBill

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This article is a transcription of an episode of the RateFast podcast, which you can listen to by searching “RateFast” in iTunes or the iOS podcast store.

If you’re a workers’ compensation provider, adjuster, or case manager check out RateFast Express: the service that writes your impairment reports for you!

There are limitless options to modernizing workers’ compensation in the 21st century, and RateFast has the monumental front of impairment reports covered.

Another company helping to modernize this very complicated system is DaisyBill. With the workload that clinics are expected to perform when going through work comp claims, a lot of the billing process is left incomplete for the insurance carrier, which complicates issues. Another thing, is that billing review is sometimes ignored by clinics, which leaves money on the table that the clinic could potentially collect on.

We spoke with Sarah Moray, founder of DaisyBill, about what her company does to help make these billing difficulties seamless with her cloud based software suite.
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What We’ve Learned from Going National

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RateFast has dived into the work comp systems of 7 different states nationwide. Each state has a different way of conducting workers’ compensation, from the method of recording when the injury happens, to how the medical provider determines MMI (which is known in many states as PPD or Permanent Partial Disability).

This article is about what we’ve learned from taking a look at the workers’ compensation system in multiple states.

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RateFast Podcast: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, When the Pain Gets Out of Hand

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This article is a transcriptions of an episode of the RateFast podcast, which you can listen to by searching “RateFast” in iTunes or the iOS podcast store.

If you’re a workers’ compensation provider, adjuster, or case manager check out RateFast Express: the service that writes your impairment reports for you!

A patient enters a doctor’s office and says, “Doctor, I believe that I have carpal tunnel!” To which the doctor replies, “My god, it appears that I have carpal tunnel too! Now let’s check and see if you’re having carpal tunnel syndrome.”

Yes, most people’s hands contain a carpal tunnel, which is a rigid ligament through which the median nerve and the tendons pass through. Carpal tunnel syndrome is the pain associated with the inflammation of the nerves and tendons within the carpal tunnel. Knowing the difference between the two can save you from a snarky conversation like the one detailed above.

We spoke with Dr. Leonard Gordon, a microsurgeon, about what causes carpal tunnel syndrome, how to avoid it, how to treat it once it begins, and what is done when it goes from bad to worse.
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Rate-fast.com Is Going National, and We Are Open During Construction

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RateFast is excited to announce that we are going national!

Over the past few years, RateFast has provided AMA Guides 5th Edition impairment ratings and workers’ comp solutions for providers, insurance administrators, and other stakeholders in California. But soon, the RateFast platform will be updated to provide anybody in the U.S. with quality impairment ratings, reviews, and reporting services.

All RateFast ratings will adhere to the state’s rule set for determining impairment/permanent partial disability, or each state’s designated version of the AMA Guides.

RateFast will adapt its impairment rating forms to each of the state’s specifications, and provide a consistent reporting format in states which do not provide forms.

Our goal is to become the one-stop workers’ compensation for medical providers, insurance carriers, attorneys, employers, workers. To date, RateFast has already expanded into Florida, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

For Providers

Although we’re still updating our online platform to accommodate states other than California, we have worked with providers and insurance carriers in other states.

We can provide you with products and services customized to your state, AMA Guides version, and workflows, regardless of your location.

For Insurance Carriers

Please check out a list of our services here.

Questions?

To find out how RateFast can help, please contact us for more information.

Try RateFast Express today!

RateFast Podcast: Attorneys in Workers’ Comp: A Historical Perspective

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This article is a transcriptions of an episode of the RateFast podcast, which you can listen to by searching “RateFast” in iTunes or the iOS podcast store.

If you’re a workers’ compensation provider, adjuster, or case manager check out RateFast Express: the service that writes your impairment reports for you!

Truly, it’s not ideal to have to hire an attorney for a work comp claim. Work comp attorneys however, are hired when the events of the claim are not ideal.

Originally workers’ compensation was supposed to simplify the process of an occupational injury or illness. As industry got more complex, corporations got bigger, and fraud was more and more common, attorneys became a necessity.

We spoke with attorney Phil Walker about his over 30 years of experience with workers’ compensation, how far it’s come, and where it appears to be going.

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What Are The AMA Guides? A Brief History and Explanation

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It is important that physicians have a framework that they can use to show stakeholders the results of their examinations of a worker’s injury. The framework the physician uses is the standard used by the entire state so that they can agree or dispute the results within the language of the framework.

This framework is the AMA Guidelines, a book divided into several editions that is used in most states to measure permanent impairment as a result of injuries. This is a quick primer intended to give a little information to those unfamiliar with the Guides.
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