WHAT ARE THE “OFFICIAL DISABILITY GUIDELINES” AND
HOW DO THEY AFFECT MY WORK COMP CLAIM IN ARIZONA?
By Chad Snow, Founding Partner/Attorney
In 2013, the Arizona
legislature, upon strong lobbying by the insurance industry, approved a set of
evidence based medicine “guidelines” to be used in determining what treatment
could be given in work injury cases.
The industrial commission of Arizona
was tasked with implementing those guidelines and in 2015 adopted the “official
disability guidelines” as the approved treatment guidelines in any cases
involving chronic pain in Arizona. The “ODG” as it is known, is the
product of a for-profit company that sets treatment protocols for physicians
treating a variety of injuries. Insurance carriers love it and lobbied
hard for it because it significantly reduces costs paid out as treatment for
injured workers.
Physicians are not fond of ODG
because it limits their ability to tailor treatment plans to individual
patients. As an attorney who has handled thousands of cases in Arizona, I
have frankly seen very little impact from the implementation of the ODG in Arizona.
However, that may all change as the word on the street is that the insurance
industry will be trying to expand the use of the ODG from just cases involving
chronic pain to all work injuries in Arizona.
There are many detractors to the
ODG. Several federal agencies and other organizations have either stopped
using it altogether or limited its application because of numerous flaws.
Time will tell whether “evidence based medicine” is just a passing fad or the
wave of the future.
For more information on Workers' Compensation or Social Security Disability, please contact Snow, Carpio & Weekley toll-free at 855-325-4781 or visit our website at www.workinjuryaz.com. We serve the entire State of Arizona and have offices located in Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma and Lake Havasu City.
