Oakland, CA – The Division of Workers’ Compensation recently posted to its online forum draft regulations regarding interpreters and qualified medical evaluators (QMEs) that implement Senate Bill 863. The draft interpreter regulations revise the current regulations by defining “qualified interpreter for purposes of medical treatment appointments,” deleting the definition for “provisionally certified,” and adding “medical treatment appointments” to the fee schedule. Revisions to the hourly fees will be made after DWC conducts a study to determine appropriate payment amounts and will proceed as a regular rulemaking as opposed to emergency regulations.
The revisions to the QME regulations include implementing SB 863’s limitation of 10 QME offices for conducting comprehensive medical-legal evaluations, amending the panel selection forms 105 and 106 for injuries on or after Jan. 1, 2013, providing a procedure and form to request a factual correction for an unrepresented panel QME, requiring the QME to complete the Physician’s Report of Work Capacity if the evaluator declares the injured worker permanent and stationary, and prohibiting an Agreed Medical Evaluator (AME) or QME from providing an opinion on any disputed medical treatment but allowing opinions about whether the injured worker will need future medical care.
The forum can be found by clicking the “current forums” link on the top of the DWC forums page.
Source: CA DWC