California DWC issues 15-day notice of revisions to proposed medical treatment guideline regulations

Sacramento, CA (WCNPC) - The Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) has modified its medical treatment utilization schedule (MTUS) regulations. A 15-day notice of modification was distributed to interested parties and the revised regulations are posted on the DWC Web site. Members of the public may comment on the revisions until 5 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2006.

The proposed medical treatment utilization schedule regulations, commonly referred to as medical treatment guidelines, are authorized by Labor Code section 5307.27. This Labor Code section requires the administrative director to adopt a medical treatment utilization schedule.

The revisions in this draft of the regulations include the following:

• Definitions for the terms “acute” and “chronic” have been deleted from the text of the regulations
  
• Clarified that the MTUS is presumptively correct on the issue of extent and scope of medical treatment and diagnostic services addressed in the MTUS for the duration of the medical condition
  
• A definition for the term “functional improvement” has been added to the regulations
  
• A definition for the term “peer reviewed” has been added to of the regulations
  
• Section 9792.21 has been reorganized to adopt the MTUS, and to reflect the components of the schedule
  
• Acupuncture treatment guidelines have been adopted based on the medical treatment guidelines from the state of Colorado, Division of Workers’ Compensation
  
• Substituted the proposed hierarchy of scientifically based evidence with ACOEM’s updated strength of evidence rating methodology to evaluate specific medical treatment or diagnostic services
  
• Increased the size of the medical evidence evaluation advisory committee to better represent all treatment procedures and modalities commonly performed in workers’ compensation cases.

Further information and the modified proposals can be found at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/DWCPropRegs/MedicalTreatmentUtilizationSchedule/MTUS_regulations.htm.