H-3787              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 2607

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Representative Vekich

Read first time 1/17/90 and referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.

AN ACT Relating to medical examinations in industrial insurance; amending RCW 51.32.112 and 51.32.114; and amending section 1, chapter 114, Laws of 1988 (uncodified).

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 1, chapter 114, Laws of 1988 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:

The legislature finds that special medical examinations that are not conducted with professionalism and sensitivity may contribute unnecessarily to the adversarial nature of the industrial insurance system.  It is the intent of the legislature that medical examinations for determining permanent disabilities be conducted fairly and objectively by qualified examiners and with respect for the dignity of the injured worker.  To this end, the legislature finds it necessary to establish guidelines and criteria for these examinations, including the making of recordings of the examinations to reduce the potential for creating adversarial environments through inappropriate conduct of medical examinations.

        Sec. 2.  Section 2, chapter 114, Laws of 1988 and RCW 51.32.112 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1)  The department shall develop standards for the conduct of special medical examinations to determine permanent disabilities, including, but not limited to:

          (a) The qualifications of persons conducting the examinations;

          (b) The criteria for conducting the examinations, including guidelines for the appropriate treatment of injured workers during the examination.  The guidelines shall include, but not be limited to:

(i) Requiring the presence, during the physical examination, of a person of the injured worker's gender unless the examination is conducted by one or more persons of the injured worker's gender;

(ii) Permitting an injured worker to have an accompanying person present during a physical examination; and

(iii) Permitting the injured worker to request audio recording of the physical examination.  When requested by the injured worker, the person conducting the examination shall make the recording, which shall be submitted to the department and be included in the injured worker's claims file.

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit the applicability of any other requirements that may be established by law for the conduct of examinations; and

          (c) The content of examination reports.

          (2) The department shall investigate the amount of examination fees received by persons conducting special medical examinations to determine permanent disabilities, including total compensation received for examinations of department and self- insured claimants, and establish compensation guidelines and compensation reporting criteria.  The department shall keep records of the amount of fees received by persons for conducting special medical examinations under this title.

          (3) The department shall investigate the level of compliance of self-insurers with the requirement of full reporting of claims information to the department, particularly with respect to medical examinations, and develop effective enforcement procedures or recommendations for legislation if needed.

        Sec. 3.  Section 3, chapter 114, Laws of 1988 and RCW 51.32.114 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department shall examine the credentials of persons conducting special medical examinations ((and shall monitor the quality and objectivity of examinations and reports for the department and self-insured claimants.  The department)) and shall adopt rules to ensure that examinations are performed only by qualified persons meeting department standards.  When an examination is requested for an injured worker of a self-insured employer, the department shall determine, in each case, the person or persons who shall be scheduled to conduct the examination.

(2) The department shall monitor the quality and objectivity of examinations and reports for the department and self-insured claimants.  The department shall keep records of the results of examinations, including but not limited to, whether the report agrees or disagrees with the opinion of the attending physician and whether the report supports allowance or disallowance of the worker's claim.