IMR Rules Reward Carriers Who Don't Send Records, Critics Say

By Greg Jones, Western Bureau ChiefAdministrative rules proposed by the California Division of Workers' Compensation would reward carriers who fail to send medical records for independent medical review and could force injured workers to wait longer for decisions on the appropriateness of medical procedures sought by their treating physicians, doctors and applicants' attorneys say.The DWC on Friday posted for a 15-day public comment period proposed independent medical-review and utilization-review rules that would allow a medical reviewer to, “if possible, issue a determination a...