Grinberg: Emergency QME Regulations in Effect; Med-Legal QME Exams to Continue

Monday, January 31, 2022 | 0

Back in March, the Department of Industrial Relations issued new rules in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing the time limits of qualified medical examiners to produce reports and schedule exams, and also providing guidance on how to conduct (or object to) QME exams using telemedicine rather than in-person examinations.

Those were set to expire on Oct. 12, 2021, but were extended for an additional 90 days as, quelle surprise, the emergency continued. The extension was set to expire on Jan. 10, 2022, and Government Code Section 11346.1(h) limited re-adoption to a maximum of 180 days from when emergency regulations were first adopted.

However, this DIR Newsline reports that effective Jan. 18, 2022, a fresh set of emergency regulations was adopted. The current regulations allow med-legal evaluations through telehealth medicine where the following terms are met:

• There is a medical issue in dispute, specifically AOE/COE, termination of indemnity benefits or work restrictions.
• The parties agree to a telehealth evaluation, and refusal to agree can be the subject of a declaration of readiness to proceed.
• The QME and the relevant medical licensing board agree that the evaluation is conducted in a manner consistent with ethical medical practices.
• The QME attests in writing that the evaluation does not require an in-person physical exam.

Also, telemedicine must have a video component. Audio-only is insufficient.

Finally, the initial medical evaluation will be “located” at the QME office listed on the panel.

The emergency continues, and we are almost at year two of said emergency.

Gregory Grinberg is managing partner of Gale, Sutow & Associates’ S.F. Bay South office and a certified specialist in workers’ compensation law. This post is reprinted with permission from Grinberg’s WCDefenseCA blog.