Rhode Island General Laws 28-33-34.1. Schedule of medical review
(a) On or about twenty-six (26) weeks from the date of a compensable injury, any person obtaining incapacity benefits may be examined and his or her diagnosis and treatment reviewed by a comprehensive independent healthcare review team or an impartial medical examiner. The comprehensive independent healthcare review team or impartial medical examiner shall be selected through a mechanism to be established by the administrator of the medical advisory board. The results of the examination and review shall be provided to the employee and the insurer or self-insured employer within fourteen (14) days of the examination and a copy shall be filed with the medical advisory board. The comprehensive independent healthcare review team and/or impartial medical examiner shall review the treating physician‘s findings and diagnosis and make its own findings of the extent and nature of the claimed disability; the degree of functional impairment and/or disability; the expectation of further medical improvement; any further medical care, treatment, and/or rehabilitation services that may be required to reach maximum medical improvement; type(s) of work that can be performed within existing physical capacity; the degree of disability expected at maximum medical improvement; whether the employee can return to the former position of employment; and compliance of the treating physician with protocols and standards of medical care established by the medical advisory board. The report may be subsequently admissible as a court exhibit. A party may be permitted to cross-examine the author(s) of the report with leave of the court.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 28-33-34.1
- Employee: means any person who has entered into the employment of or works under contract of service or apprenticeship with any employer, except that in the case of a city or town other than the city of Providence it shall only mean that class or those classes of employees as may be designated by a city, town, or regional school district in a manner provided in this chapter to receive compensation under chapters 29 — 38 of this title. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
- functional impairment: means an anatomical or functional abnormality existing after the date of maximum medical improvement as determined by a medically or scientifically demonstrable finding and based upon the sixth (6th) edition of the American Medical Association's Guide to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment or comparable publications of the American Medical Association. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
- Injury: means and refers to personal injury to an employee arising out of and in the course of his or her employment, connected and referable to the employment. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
- Maximum medical improvement: means a point in time when any medically determinable physical or mental impairment as a result of injury has become stable and when no further treatment is reasonably expected to materially improve the condition. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
- person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
- Physician: means medical doctor, surgeon, dentist, licensed psychologist, chiropractor, osteopath, podiatrist, or optometrist, as the case may be. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
(b) On or about thirteen (13) weeks after any examination under this section or § 28-33-35, a comprehensive independent healthcare review team or impartial medical examiner shall perform a similar review. The same comprehensive independent healthcare review team or impartial medical examiner may not perform more than two (2) consecutive reviews on a particular employee.
(c) Failure to appear for examination under this section shall be grounds for suspension or termination of benefits unless justified by good cause. Residence outside the state does not, by itself, constitute good cause for failure to appear.
History of Section.
P.L. 1992, ch. 31, § 8; P.L. 2010, ch. 95, § 2; P.L. 2010, ch. 121, § 2; P.L. 2014, ch. 78, § 5; P.L. 2014, ch. 87, § 5.