The California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) has scheduled a web-based training seminar for Wednesday, July 15 to educate workers’ compensation claims and medical professionals, attorneys and other members of the community on revisions to the California workers’ compensation Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule (MTUS) that were recently approved by the state and that took effect April 20.  

   The half-day program, “2015 Regulatory Update: The MTUS and Other Recent Regulatory Changes” will primarily cover the MTUS regulation, with discussions centering on revisions that were designed to:

• clarify the role of the MTUS as the primary source of guidance for treating physicians and physician reviewers in evaluating and treating injured workers
• establish limited situations in which recommended treatment outside the MTUS may be warranted
• provide guidance in searching for appropriate recommendations in treatment guidelines and studies
• set the requirements for treating and reviewing physicians to support Requests for Authorization and Utilization Review and Independent Medical Review decisions regarding reasonable and necessary care
• establish the methodology that reviewing physicians should follow to evaluate the quality and strength of evidence used to support competing recommendations

Though the focus will be on the MTUS changes, the program also will include brief discussions on the recently adopted copy service fee schedule (effective July 1), and details on DIR’s $120 million a year Return to Work Fund. The web-based training seminar will run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with two 15-minute breaks, and will feature presentations by CWCI Claims and Medical Director Brenda Ramirez and CWCI Senior Research Associate Stacy Jones. CWCI General Counsel Mike McClain will provide legal insight and moderate the program. Course materials will be emailed to registrants prior to the program and participants will be able to submit questions for a Q&A session. Attendees who register for the web-based program can qualify for post-designation training hours, and if they convene in a classroom setting with an instructor, toward Department of Insurance claims certification requirements. Upon request, CWCI will issue certificates to each individual who enrolled. Tuition is $125 for CWCI member company employees, $175 for nonmembers, with group rates for companies enrolling 5 or more employees (call 510-251-9470 for group pricing). For those unable to participate on July 15, the Institute may offer the program as on-demand seminar in the future. For details or to register, visit the Institute’s website at http://www.cwci.org/conferences.html.