Update for 2021: RateFast Express is an even easier alternative to the wonderful RateFast software. Try RateFast Express today!
As of October 1st 2015, U.S. medical providers are required to use ICD-10 codes instead of ICD-9 codes.
Although there are more than 70,000 new codes (many of which feature an overwhelming amount of specificity) we believe that this transition can—and should—be simplified with the help of medical software.
Continue reading How to Simplify ICD-10 Codes Using RateFast
Our sister website www.pr4report.com recently created a downloadable FAQ about telemedicine in workers’ compensation—or “Occupational Telemedicine.”
If you’re in workers’ compensation and you’d like to learn more about how you can use telemedicine—online visits—to benefit your practice and patients, then just this might be worth reading.
A lot of RateFast members use telemedicine in conjunction with RateFast to great effect. Contact us for more information about how telemedicine can benefit your medical practice.
Update for 2021: RateFast Express is an even easier alternative to the wonderful RateFast software. Try RateFast Express today!
Accurately sending your bill for a PR-4 report can be a time consuming process, but it doesn’t need to be.
The RateFast PR-4 Billing Calculator counts the amount of pages in your PR-4 report, asks some basic questions, and then prints out a bill at the end of your report.
This article describes how to turn on the billing calculator and how to use it correctly.
Continue reading Automatic billing for your PR-4 reports! How to use the RateFast Billing Calculator
Update for 2021: RateFast Express is an even easier alternative to the wonderful RateFast software. Try RateFast Express today!
If you’re a medical provider in the U.S., then you know that on October 1st 2015 we will be switching from ICD-9 to ICD-10 codes. There are more than 100,000 new codes.
A lot of medical workers are concerned that the transition might be rocky, but RateFast users need not fear.
Update for 2021: RateFast Express is an even easier alternative to the wonderful RateFast software. Try RateFast Express today!
If you’re a current RateFast user, then you’ll recognize these exams from the “Objective Findings” section of your Doctor’s First, PR-2, and PR-4 reports.
All the information in the Objective Findings examinations should be, well, objective: any other medical provider should be able to examine the patient’s injury and come back with the same results.
Some parts of an Objective Findings examination require you to take measurements using various pieces of equipment (such as goniometers and inclinometers) or to perform different types of tests (such as distal neurovascular exams and monofilament testing).
Click here for a full list of the body part exams that are currently written into the RateFast application.
If you’re a medical provider in workers’ compensation, then sometimes your patients might want legal representation.
When your patients ask, “Should I get an attorney?” then we recommend referring them the Disability Evaluation Unit.
To learn why, listen to our podcast on the subject here: “Attorneys in Workers’ Comp: A Historical Perspective” (released September 3rd, 2015).
The DEU has offices in the following locations:
| Anaheim 1065 N. PacifiCenter Drive Anaheim, CA 92806 (714) 414-1803 |
Oxnard 1901 N. Rice Avenue, Suite 200 Oxnard, CA 93030 (805) 485-4423 |
San Francisco 455 Golden Gate Avenue, 2nd floor P.O. Box 420603 San Francisco, CA 94142 (415) 703-5030 |
| Bakersfield 1800 30th Street, Suite 100 Bakersfield, CA 93301-1929 (661) 395-2723 |
Pomona 732 Corporate Center Drive Pomona, CA 91768 (909) 629-6288 |
San Jose 100 Paseo de San Antonio, Room 223 San Jose, CA 95113 (408) 277-2024 |
| Eureka * Satellite office Ratings to be sent to Redding |
Redding 250 Hemsted Drive, Second Floor, Ste. B Redding, CA 96002 (530) 225-3179 |
San Luis Obispo 4740 Allene Way, Suite 100 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 (805) 596-4157 |
| Fresno 2550 Mariposa Mall, Room 2005 Fresno, CA 93721-2280 (559) 445-6427 |
Riverside 3737 Main Street, 3rd floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 782-4345 |
Santa Ana 605 W Santa Ana Blvd, Bldg 28, Room 451 Santa Ana, CA 92701 (714) 558-4113 ext. 6749 |
| Long Beach 300 Oceangate Street, Room 325 Long Beach, CA 90802-4460 (562) 590-5017 |
Sacramento 160 Promenade Circle, Suite 300 Sacramento, CA 95834 (916) 928-3150 |
Santa Barbara * Satellite office Ratings to be sent to Oxnard |
| Los Angeles 320 W. 4th Street, 9th floor Los Angeles, CA 90013 (213) 576-7426 |
Salinas 1880 North Main Street, Suites 100/200 Salinas, CA 93906-2204 (831) 443-3222 |
Santa Rosa 50 “D” Street, Suite 420 Santa Rosa, CA 95404 (707) 576-2374 |
| Marina del Rey 4720 Lincoln Blvd 2nd floor Marina del Rey, CA 90292 (310) 482-3868 |
San Bernardino 464 W. Fourth Street, Suite 260 San Bernardino, CA 92401 (909) 383-4522 |
Stockton 31 East Channel Street, Room 417 Stockton, CA 95202-2314 (209) 948-3651 |
| Oakland 1515 Clay Street, 6th floor Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 622-2859 |
San Diego 7575 Metropolitan Drive, Suite 202 San Diego, CA 92108 (619) 767-2081 |
Van Nuys 6150 Van Nuys Blvd., Room 200 Van Nuys, CA 91401-3373 (818) 901-5376 ext. 5 |
New PodcastOver at the California Work Comp Report podcast, we’ve just released an episode featuring workers’ compensation attorney Phil Walker.
Phil will be joining us for more podcasts as we explore the intersection of law, medicine, and patients’ needs in work comp.
You can check out the episode called “Attorneys in Workers’ Comp: A Historical Perspective” here, and you can also read a complimentary blog post.
Phil has over 30 years experience in several different workers’ compensation systems from Canada to Mexico to the Rockies.
He is an expert on the AMA Guides, 5th edition (which California currently uses for evaluating and rating work injuries). Phil helps employers figure out if doctor’s work-comp reports are correct.
For more information about Phil and his services, you can visit his website here.
Many workers’ compensation claims today involve an attorney at some point. The work comp system, when it came to the United States from Germany, was supposed to be simple, transparent and efficient—a system without attorneys or judges, that focused on three simple steps:
Any permanent impairment would be measured by a doctor with a simple formula, and would tell you how much that injury was worth.
Permanent disability, on the other hand, was originally used to measure the amount of machines the worker could no longer operate. The amount of compensation that the injured worker received would then come from that loss.
Why are defense attorneys involved in today’s workers’ compensation system? There are two primary reasons why attorneys need to get involved:
This, in turn, results in:
And, finally, that an injured worker seeks out an attorney. This can then further result in additional body parts being added to the claim. Therefore, providers should always be asking themselves:
“How do I get this case accurately resolved, in the fastest amount of time?”
When this doesn’t happen, lawyers get involved.
Are you not sure how to use the RateFast Dual Inclinometer mobile app? then you’ve come to the right place.
This article is intended for medical providers and others who are interested in carpal tunnel syndrome that is caused by workplace activity.
Carpal tunnel syndrome, or CTS, is caused by pressure on the median nerve in your wrist. The median nerve travels from the forearm through the carpal tunnel into the hand.
For further reading on the symptoms of CTS, check out this Mayo Clinic article.
A lot. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) occurs in approximately 3-6% of the adult population.
While CTS can be caused by genetics, diabetes, and pregnancy one major factor can be repetitive, forceful movement. As a result, CTS is a very common workplace injury.
When CTS is caused by work related activities, and if an employee is permanently impaired due to CTS, then the condition requires an impairment rating.
Like all injuries, calculating an accurate impairment rating for CTS requires measurements that can be reproduced. In other words, it’s important the medical providers measure CTS in their patients multiple times to ensure that another provider would obtain the same measurements.
In California (and many other states), all impairment ratings for work-related injuries should be calculated according to the AMA Guides, 5th edition.
According to the Guides, the objective factors that affect the PR-4 impairment rating include sensory loss, grip and pinch loss, and loss of range of motion.
If you’ve used RateFast to write a PR-4 report for an injury to your patient’s wrist, then you probably remember being prompted to measure each of these factors.
Remember to use the proper devices to take all measurements twice to make sure your findings are compliant with the AMA Guides. When medical providers don’t take multiple measurements, then their PR-4 report will be incomplete. The result is often an inaccurate impairment rating—which can result in happy insurance carriers and unhappy patients.
