Employees who suffer work-related injuries face unique challenges when seeking medical treatment.
Article continues below
Traditional medical training does not always cover the issues physicians encounter when treating a workers’ compensation patient.
Because of this, the Tennessee Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) created the Certified Physician Program (CPP) which provides the specialized training needed to treat injured workers.
The centerpiece of the Certified Physician Program (CPP) is a free, online, self-paced, training course designed to teach physicians additional skills to help them successfully treat and evaluate injured workers.
In exchange for accepting workers’ compensation patients, certified physicians are eligible to receive enhanced fees for initial and follow-up visits and for giving final impairment ratings.
The CPP is designed to improve the experience for physicians, patients, and others, making it more appealing for physicians to accept workers’ compensation patients.
The Certified Physician Program places an emphasis on recovery through a quicker return to work; physicians are taught how to encourage injured workers to take an active role in their own recovery.
Unfortunately, the processes of determining causation, maximum medical improvement, permanent impairment, modified duty, and work limitations are not taught in medical school.
Most physicians, except for those on the Medical Impairment Rating Registry, have never received formal training in these matters, and some can benefit from specialized instruction.
Physicians might be reluctant to accept workers' compensation patients because they are required to perform tasks for which they have not received training.
The CPP is designed to teach physicians how to better fulfill their unique role in the workers’ compensation system, especially the recovery and return-to-work processes.
By doing so, the CPP will help improve the experience for physicians and all other stakeholders, making it more appealing for physicians to accept workers’ compensation patients.
Having more trained physicians, particularly those who specialize in areas of medicine that are currently underrepresented in the system, makes it easier for employers to provide panels of three physicians when their employees become injured. More physicians in the system also improves access for injured workers to medical care.
And, since the Bureau-Certified physicians will be formally trained to set return-to-work expectations and emphasize them throughout the recovery process, both employers and employees will benefit from fewer employee workdays missed, better health and psychosocial outcomes, lower workers’ compensation costs, and fewer disability claims.
CPP is only open to physicians and chiropractors. ■