|
|
![[Company Logo Image]](_borders/logo.gif){kind=logo}
|
North Dakota Adopts Official Disability Guidelines
July
18, 2005 – Bismarck, North Dakota -- Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI) --
North Dakota’s workers' compensation provider -- has chosen Work Loss Data
Institute’s Official Disability Guidelines – Treatment in Workers Comp
(ODG) to manage the treatment and expected disability duration for workers’
compensation claims statewide. Before
entering into this licensing agreement, WSI conducted an extensive evaluation,
reviewing all the different guidelines available to improve outcomes in
workers’ comp. ODG
will enable Workforce Safety & Insurance to use the latest available medical
evidence in making treatment decisions to improve outcomes for workers injured
on the job in North Dakota. In
addition, workers’ comp expenditures will remain focused on the goal of
recovery and the best utilization of the available medical services. WSI
has also negotiated a discount of over 40% on ODG for all healthcare providers
operating in the state’s work comp system, to encourage its widespread use.
(North Dakota providers need only use the coupon code “NDWSI” when ordering
online or by telephone at 800-488-5548.) North
Dakota is the latest of several US States and Canadian Provinces to adopt ODG,
as the movement towards evidence-based medicine in workers’ comp gains ground.
Most unique about the ODG approach is that links are provided from each
recommendation to the supporting medical evidence, so it can be consulted and
quoted directly. In addition, ODG
is updated annually and provides integrated treatment and disability duration
guidelines. According
to Phil Denniston, president of Work Loss Data Institute, "Among the states
that have adopted ODG, we are particularly proud to be working with North Dakota
and WSI. According to the latest
survey by the Oregon Department of Consumer & Business Services, North
Dakota is #1 in the U.S. in workers’ comp outcomes, with the lowest rates of
any state. The current management
of WSI has a well deserved reputation for a system that contains costs while
maintaining high quality benefits for North Dakota's injured workers, and we are
happy that they selected to partner with ODG." WSI
CEO and Executive Director Sandy Blunt said WSI will continue to work to control
or reduce the medical costs that affect WSI's rates.
“In the next year we will put into place additional programs and
services such as ODG to assist us in slowing the growth of medical costs while
still providing superior care to our injured workers", said Blunt. The American
Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians (AADEP) has also taken on a
supporting role in the application of ODG, and provided training courses in
North Dakota in late June. Each
course, offering CME credit, provides an introduction
to evidenced-based medicine, an overview of ODG and a "walk thru" with
several controversial topics, to show how ODG can be utilized for scientific and
medical based resolution.
The instructors are all board certified medically trained physicians, and
they have extensive training in occupational medicine, family medicine, and
other primary care specialties, as well as extensive experience in
musculoskeletal disorders, and they are all in the active practice of medicine.
While the
instructors have considerable experience in the use of ODG, none have any
financial relationship with ODG or Work Loss Data Institute. The
move should benefit injured workers in North Dakota most, as the primary
objective of ODG is improved patient outcomes through the restoration of
function.
|
|
Send mail to our webmaster with
questions or comments about this web site.
|