BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1542
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Date of Hearing: July 8, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1542 (Mathis) - As Introduced April 23, 2015
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Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes neuropsychologists to continue to perform
the services of a qualified medical examiner (QME) in the
workers' compensation system, and specifies minimum
qualifications a neuropsychologist must meet in order to be a
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QME.
It also allows physicians who completed a residency training
program under a predecessor organization to the Accreditation
Council for Graduate Medical Education (which currently
accredits residency training programs)
FISCAL EFFECT:
Any costs to the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) are
minor and absorbable as part of an ongoing regulatory effort
(Workers Compensation Administration Revolving Fund).
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. This bill is intended to supersede pending
regulations in one narrow aspect related to QMEs, by
authorizing neuropsychologists who meet certain criteria to be
QMEs.
2)QME process. QMEs are appointed to evaluate medical-legal
disputes (disputes over the extent to which an injured
employee's injuries or conditions are disabling or are
work-related), upon request of a party to a workers'
compensation claim. The requesting party specifies the type
of expertise needed to resolve the dispute, and the Division
of Worker's Compensation (DWC) appoints a panel, from which a
single QME is selected.
3)Clinical neuropsychology is a specialty recognized by the
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American Psychological Association. Neuropsychologists
assess, diagnose, and treat neurological disorders or
injuries, and have expertise in the applied science of brain
and behavior. A neuropsychologist may evaluate a patient or an
injured worker who has a known or suspected brain injury or
brain disease, and evaluate how their brain function impacts
day-to-day behavior and ability. If neuropsychology is the
required expertise, but only general psychologists are on the
QME lists, proponents suggest the system will incur added
expense and time for consultations with neuropsychologists.
4)Division of Workers' Compensation Regulations. DWC held a
public hearing on May 22 to make revisions on the QME
regulations. DWC intends to promulgate regulations
establishing how medical specialties are recognized in the QME
process. According to DIR, the Division's intent is to
establish a standard that specialties must be recognized by an
appropriate regulatory board.
5)Board of Psychology recognition of specialties. The Board does
not recognize specialties the way some other healing arts
boards do. Instead, the Board enforces competency of practice
on a complaint basis using expert review to establish
competency. For example, if the complaint is against someone
performing neuropsychology then the Board would refer the
matter to an expert in neuropsychology to see if the subject
deviated from the standard of care or provided care outside of
his/her expertise.
6)Urgency. The author explains an urgency clause is necessary
to prevent new regulations to go into effect. According to
the author and DWC, these regulations exclude
neuropsychologists from being QMEs because they are not
recognized as a specialty by the Board of Psychology.
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Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)
319-2081