RateFast Podcast: How Bad Is It, Doc? First Aid vs. Recordable Injuries

Posted , updated on

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

The Las Vegas Shooting and Why Police Officers Were Denied Workers’ Comp

Posted , updated on

Acting in the face of imminent death merits a huge deal of honor, but as several courts in California have shown, it doesn’t obligate a county to supply workers’ compensation benefits.

The story

On October 1st, a lone gunman fired rounds of ammunition into the crowd of a festival with tens of thousands of attendees. This was the deadliest mass shooting conducted by an individual in the United States at the writing of this article.

The Las Vegas police who responded to the scene were quickly joined by off duty Los Angeles police officers who were attending the festival. Along with hundreds of others, some of these L.A. police officers incurred injuries from the shooter.

Returning to Los Angeles, the officers—having responded and been injured in the action—filed for workers’ compensation benefits. A few days later, their requests were denied.
Continue reading The Las Vegas Shooting and Why Police Officers Were Denied Workers’ Comp

Common Objections to Workers’ Comp Reports: Apportionment

Posted , updated on

This article is part of a series on the top reasons why insurance carriers object to a workers’ compensation report and return it to the medical practice unpaid. This article is intended for medical providers, administrative staff, office managers, as well as claims adjusters.

Welcome to the final in our series of posts about red flags in impairment reports, and how to ensure that your reports are not objected to by an insurance company. In our previous posts, we have covered incomplete history of symptoms, unchecked Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), accounting for prior injuries, incomplete examination, and complications with diagnostic tests.

In a perfect world, the long road of a workers’ compensation claim would end in a healthy patient with a 0% WPI, an fairly compensated primary treating physician, a satisfied claims adjuster, and no involvement with an attorney. But it’s rarely this simple.

Apportionment is an attempt to objectify something that cannot be measured with tools, which opens up the possibility for disagreement. As we’ve learned from our other blog posts in this series, disagreements between PTPs and the employers’ insurance can cause slowed claims, delayed treatment, and could result in the need for an attorney.
Continue reading Common Objections to Workers’ Comp Reports: Apportionment

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

Posted , updated on

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

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

Posted , updated on

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?

How to Accept an Invitation and Create Your RateFast User Account

Posted , updated on

Update for 2021: RateFast Express is an even easier alternative to the wonderful RateFast software. We write your workers’ comp impairment reports for you. Try RateFast Express today!

This blog post is for new RateFast users who need to set up a new user account.

If you have been invited to access an organization’s RateFast account, then you will first need to set up your username and profile.
This article describes the process of receiving an invitation, setting up your account, and keeping it secure.
Continue reading How to Accept an Invitation and Create Your RateFast User Account

RateFast Podcast: Understanding the RFA

Posted , updated on

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

RateFast Podcast: What are The Chances? Probability and RateFast

Posted , updated on

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

Greater Than or Equal To: Percentiles and RateFast

Posted , updated on

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