INSIDER REPORT FOR WORKERS COMP CONSULTANT DOCTORS

REVIEW OF RECORDS UNDER CODE 99358 HAS BEEN DELETED
 
While this  report is aimed at doctors who are asked to do consultations for injured workers, its comments should be of interest to attorneys on both sides, insurance companies, adjusters, and injured workers. Most of the consultants who interview and examine  injured workers know by  now that Dr. Das, speaking for the administration at the workers comp hearing in Oakland earlier this month, told the audience that the doctors who do consultations should be "advocates" for their patients and should prepare their consultation reports free of charge. While well meaning, the remarks showed a lack of knowledge about how the system works. To begin with, consultations may also be requested by insurance companies, defense attorneys,  and adjusters, not just by injured workers, applicants, and their lawyers. Das' remarks would put the defense consultant in the position of  "advocating" for the insurance companies. In fact,, the consultant is supposed to provide an expert opinion as part of a search for truth. The consultant is  not supposed to "advocate" for anything but the truth as it is believed by the consultant.


As to the free-of-charge remark, Dr. Das didn't acknowledge that the transcription fee for these reports is often in excess of one hundred dollars. Providing such reports free-of-charge amounts to a subsidy for the insurance companies which works against injured workers' interests. More to the point, medical offices would find that shelling out a hundred bucks to provide "free" reports is the  straw that breaks the camel's back. The answer would be to stop doing consultations.  


Here's how the money part worked under the OMFS or Official Medical Fee Schedule with reference to consultations requiring review of records which would be billed under  Code 99358, now deleted as a billable code since January 1st.


99358  is, or was, the code number used to identify review of records, as in prolonged E & M services before and/or after patient care. Its standard reimbursement was $33.80 per unit. But the consultant would not be paid this amount because the insurance company would deduct $2.54 for what it called a "network" reduction, in other words, a payback to the MPN or Medical Provider Network which retained the consultant in the first place. Now that the code has been rescinded, the entire reimbursement to the consultant under 99358 has also been rescinded. Review of records may now enter a dark age of reduced enthusiasm. 


Readers should ask the workers comp division of the Department of Industrial Relations to provide transcripts of Dr. Das' remarks to determine whether or not her remarks were accurately presented in this column. Doctor Das is Medical Director of the California Division of Workers Compensation.