Guide Identifies Qualities of High-Value Physicians
The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), in partnership with the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC), has released A Guide to High-Value Physician Services in Workers’ Compensation: How to Find the Best Available Care for Your Injured Workers.
The guide provides practical advice, checklists, and other resources and tools to help employers, insurers, and other stakeholders identify physicians who have certain characteristics that increase the likelihood of positive medical outcomes in workers’ compensation cases. According to the guide, physicians who provide high-value services in workers’ compensation:
- Meet a basic set of requirements.
- Are accessible when needed.
- Have appropriate credentials.
- Have relevant professional experience and necessary proficiencies.
- Practice medicine in a high-quality manner by employing evidence-based treatment methods; utilizing tests, procedures, and specialist services wisely; and coordinating care.
- Focus on functional recovery and minimize needless life disruption and work disability for the workers they treat.
- Produce good overall medical and functional outcomes in a timely manner.
- Satisfy the needs of key parties in workers’ compensation cases (worker, employer, payers, and others who may become involved) to be treated with courtesy and receive information and guidance provided without bias and with good communication skills.
Free copies are available online at www.acoem.org and www.iaiabc.org
