Acoem

Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Want better care for employees injured at work? Start focusing on quality! ACOEM is partnering with other organizations and individuals interested in getting better clinical outcomes for people injured at work. We have developed aternative documentation rules for initial and follow-up clinic visits for pa... tients with work injuries, based on research-proven best practices. We are also in the process of developing alternative documentation rules for other codes important for workers' compensation care, and in some cases, proposed new codes for services that are important in workers' compensation, for which there are no existing codes that may apply. We hope that these proposed new rules will assist insurers, workers' compensation commissions, healthcare providers and other stakeholders in understanding what elements of care lead to the best patient outcomes in workers' compensation. These rules are designed to be adopted as an alternative to the documentation requirements established for different clinical purposes. Note that these proposed ground rules will provide a mechanism for promoting research-proven best practices in workers' compensation, but the impact of using these rules still needs to be studied. ACOEM is also looking for research partners to study the impact of adopting these rules on practice and outcomes. We anticipate that work disability time will be decreased, and that value of health care services will be improved, when the coding for reimbursement is aligned with the assessments that are necessary to guide health care delivery in a manner that will return patients injured at work to health, function and employment as efficiently as possible.Read More