Forum Review - March 12, 2008

To: Return to Work Coordinators

From: Tracy Caldwell, Workers' Compensation Analyst, Benefits Division, (916) 445-9760, FAX (916) 324-3213

Forum Review Notes

It was a morning full of interesting information and presenters:

Karen Sullivan, the new Claims Operation Manager - South, provided a State Contract Organization Chart. She and Mark McKissock, the new Claims Operation Manager - North (who could not attend the forum), were hired to provide a level of supervision between the Claims Managers and the Program Manager, Frank Floyd (who was at the forum). They hope to ensure consistency among the six offices and act as a resource to all agencies.

Karen also presented an update on the Electronic Claims File (ECF) operating system. It has only been a year since all the State Contract Offices flipped over to ECF, and Phase 1 is complete.

Ron Jamero, the Claims Manager from Rohnert Park, answered some frequently asked questions about claim make up and closure.

Rick Martinez, SCIF Medical Network Development Supervisor, told us all about their pharmacy benefit management program with Express Scripts, Incorporated.

William Anderson, State Contract Attorney, provided an entertaining update of the significant recent legal changes and spent some time explaining items of special interest to state agencies: apportionment, psyche injuries, investigations, two-year temporary disability limit, and medicare set-aside. He provided a comprehensive handout with links to all the referenced cases, and you can use this link to view it:

Legal Update With Attachments (7 MB Word document)

If you have any questions or wish to view any of the power point presentations, please contact me at tracycaldwell@dpa.ca.gov

Updated June 10, 2008 at 2:40 PM.