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

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.

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

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!

Physicians have a number of different diagnostic tests requiring special machines, that they use to determine the severity of an injury. It’s not always necessary to throw a patient into an MRI machine when they come in complaining about back pain, however. Sometimes an effective treatment plan is enough to ensure that a potential injury gets better, instead of getting much worse.

We talked to Dr. Christian Athanassious regarding the intricate details about, and differences between, bulging and herniated discs. In our podcast, Dr. Athanassious helped to shed light on the steps that a spine specialist takes to determine the severity and treatment of discs in the spine.
Continue reading RateFast Podcast: How Spinal Injuries in Stack Up in Work Comp

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!

Not all work-related injuries require a workers’ compensation claim. The severity of an injury marks the difference between a recordable injury (opening formal claim that involves follow-up visits and an impairment rating), and the simple application of first aid.

Most first aid injuries can be recognized and treated on the spot, but the doctor always has the full authority to determine whether or not to open an injury claim. Read on to learn about how this decision is made.
Continue reading RateFast Podcast: How Bad Is It, Doc? First Aid vs. Recordable Injuries

People have the tendency to cut corners sometimes. This might come as a surprise to some, but in some cases doctors are no exception.

That said, cutting corners doesn’t necessarily mean that the job is done lazily. For a doctor this can happen because they are pressed for time, they are making an inference based off of prior experience, even outside forces could be pressuring them to fill in a number here and there.

When cutting corners like this becomes routine, we get institutional bias.

Our interview with Dr. John Alchemy covers institutional bias, why it happens, and what doctors could do to avoid dragging out their claims by letting their bias get the better of them. Listen to the podcast on iTunes here.

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

Continue reading RateFast Podcast: Institutional Bias and What You Can Do to Prevent It

After they ask themselves the 3 questions before referring a patient to a spine specialist, your provider may follow through, and when a primary treating physician refers an injured worker to the specialist for diagnostic tests, the worker might suspect that there is surgery ahead. This is not always the case.

In fact, there’s a chance that they might even leave the specialist’s office with a prescription for antidepressants, among other possibly unexpected treatments.

RateFast’s own Dr. John Alchemy and Claire Williams interview orthopedic surgeon Dr. Athanassious about the circumstances surrounding complications with spinal injuries in injured workers, and where the primary treating physician may direct them when more specific care is needed. Click here to listen to the podcast on iTunes.

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

Continue reading RateFast Podcast: Came for surgery, left with some antidepressants?

In workers’ comp, providers must fill out a Request for Authorization form (RFA) when requesting a service, treatment, or tests for a patient. The RFA must be filled out correctly in order to receive approval from the employer’s insurance.

This excerpt from our podcast on How To Submit an RFA features RateFast’s founder Dr. John Alchemy in conversation with Arun Croll and Claire Williams about the intricacies and limitations of the Request for Authorization process.

There are certain steps that providers can take to make an RFA likely to be accepted, such as making sure that appropriate ICD-10 codes are included on the form. Insurance carriers may deny an RFA for all kinds of reasons, so it’s imperative to be as thorough as possible.

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

Continue reading RateFast Podcast: Understanding the RFA

An educated prediction is a critical element in decision-making when face to face with the future. This is because the future is always uncertain.

Whether you’re making bets, conducting a weather forecast, or working in medicine, knowing the probability that something will or will not happen can have a huge impact on which action to take next.

Making observations to measure the probability of an event happening involves collecting data from past events in order to compare them to the expected outcome. This is why we can have a sense of confidence as to when we should bring an umbrella, buy buy buy, or sell sell sell.

Check out our podcast titled Probability in Workers’ Compensation with RateFast intern Marten Thompson, where we discuss probabilities, Sherlock Holmes, and more.

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

Continue reading RateFast Podcast: What are The Chances? Probability and RateFast

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 percentile is a value below which a percentage of data falls.

This means that if you are in a group of 10 people, and you are the 9th tallest at 6 foot 5 inches, then 6′ 5″ is the 80th percentile height in your group. Note that the value falls below your point in the data set.

It is difficult to dispute the numbers when they are on paper, but what happens when there is a dispute about how that data is organized?
Continue reading Greater Than or Equal To: Percentiles and RateFast