California Medical Treatment Guideline Regulations Approved

Oakland, CA (CompNewsNetwork) - The California Division of Workers' Compensation's medical treatment utilization schedule (MTUS) regulations have been approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). The MTUS regulations, commonly referred to as medical treatment guidelines, are found in Title 8, California Code of Regulations, sections 9792.20 through 9792.23. The regulations are authorized by Labor Code section 5307.27, which requires the Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) administrative director to adopt a medical treatment utilization schedule that incorporates evidence based, peer-reviewed, nationally recognized standards of care and that addresses, at a minimum, the frequency, duration, intensity and appropriateness of all treatment procedures and modalities commonly performed in workers' compensation cases.

The MTUS regulations:

• Define key terms used in the regulations
  
• Adopt the MTUS
  
• Adopt and incorporate by reference the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's Occupational Medicine Practice Guidelines (ACOEM Practice Guidelines) into the MTUS
  
• Adopt acupuncture medical treatment guidelines into the MTUS
  
• Set forth the presumption of correctness of the MTUS, the burden of proof and the strength of evidence rating methodology to evaluate specific medical treatment or diagnostic services
  
• Create a medical evidence evaluation advisory committee which will advise the DWC medical director on matters concerning the MTUS for purposes of revising, updating and supplementing the MTUS as necessary.
  

The final approved regulations were filed with the secretary of state on Jun. 15, 2007 and were immediately effective. The approved regulations, as filed with the secretary of state, can be found on the DWC Web site at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/DWCPropRegs/MedicalTreatmentUtilizationSchedule/MTUS_regulations.htm.