On page 2, beginning on line 8, strike all of subsection (3) and insert the following:

"(3) The director shall adopt policies developed by the telemedicine collaborative pursuant to section 2 of this act to establish access to telemedicine for independent medical exams and reimburse independent medical exam physicians for services.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 51.36 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The telemedicine collaborative shall develop policies for the department to establish access to telemedicine for independent medical exams and reimburse independent medical exam physicians for services in a manner that is similar to the policies developed for commercial health insurance plans under RCW 48.43.735 and medicaid managed care plans under RCW 74.09.325.

(2) The telemedicine collaborative shall develop a training program to train physicians who perform independent medical exams. The training program must be offered to physicians seeking to provide independent medical exams through telemedicine.

(3) For purposes of this section, "the telemedicine collaborative" means the collaborative for the advancement of telemedicine created by section 2, chapter 68, Laws of 2016."

On page 1, at the beginning of line 3 of the title, strike "and" and after "RCW 51.36.070" insert "; and adding a new section to chapter 51.36 RCW"

EFFECT: Requires the department of labor and industries to adopt telemedicine policies developed by the telemedicine collaborative. Requires the telemedicine collaborative to develop a training program for physicians who do independent medical exams through telemedicine, and requires physicians to take the training prior to giving independent medical exams.