The WSIA Weekly, 3.11.16
Legislature
fails to complete work on time; goes into special session for budget
Yesterday
marked the end of this year’s 60-day legislative session, a session notable for
its lack of any particular activity on much of anything, including workers’
compensation and workplace safety policy. Shortly after the Legislature’s
adjournment last night, Governor Jay Inslee called
a 30-day special session to continue negotiating differences on the state’s
supplemental operating budget. It remains to be resolved whether any final
budget will contain directives for a Labor & Industries pilot program for
outside management of catastrophic injury claims and task force on Independent
Medical Examination issues.
Look
forward to seeing members next week at Spring Conference
There’s
still room for a few more registrations for next Thursday’s Spring
Conference – “The Doctor is In” – at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Bellevue.
This is a fantastic agenda for those interested in learning more about the
medical conditions that drive complex workers’ comp claims, and solutions for
working through them. We look forward to seeing nearly 100 of our members and
friends there! Agenda
& last minute registrations here.
Labor
& Industries issues update on new electronic data collection system
Earlier
today, the Department of Labor & Industries released
a communication to the self-insured community explaining its current work
on the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), which will become a component of the
new Self-Insurance Risk Analysis System (SIRAS) under development as part of
the new audit reform model. Working with WSIA’s Liaison Committee, Audit Reform
Committee, and other major stakeholders, the Department has decided to
implement a medical data tracking system now, and continue to use SIEDRS to
track claims data until a future phase of the project. Read more
about it here.
New
Wage Calculation Workshop added to calendar of events
Upon considerable
request from members to offer training on Washington’s difficult wage
calculation structure, we have developed, scheduled, and just announced this
week a new Wage Calculation
Workshop to be held April 21st in Gig Harbor. The top five
errors from employers who have undergone Tier 1 pilot audits have all been
common wage calculation issues. We’ve pulled together some experts from inside
and outside the Department to train on getting wages right. Learn
more about the event and register here.
March
Liaison Committee report up on the website
WSIA’s
Liaison Committee met with Labor & Industries’ self-insurance management on
March 3rd, discussing the aforementioned Medical EDI system,
reporting issues related to Kept-on-Salary (KOS) claims, and heard about new
hires and self-insured employer certifications. The
report and performance tracking handouts are available on our liaison committee
webpage here (member login req’d). Remember, the Liaison Committee is your
immediate voice for claims handling or department policy/management concerns; contact Kris Tefft anytime you would
like to raise an issue.
Dealing with hearing loss claims? Do you know about MEDPlus?
MEDPlus is WSIA’s preferred vendor for hearing claims services. Use your WSIA membership to reduce costs and improve outcomes.
