Corpus Christi, TX

Employer Health Register

2007 ODG PRODUCT LINE RELEASED

Encinitas, CA – Work Loss Data Institute (WLDI) announces the release of the 2007 ODG product line, including the 12^th annual edition of Official Disability Guidelines and the 5^th annual edition of ODG Treatment in Workers’ Comp.

With its rigorous and ongoing update schedule based on strict principles of evidence-based methodology, including the annual release and publication of new editions, the ODG product line remains the industry leader in disability duration and medical treatment guidelines for workers’ compensation and non-occupational disability cases.

Senior Account Executive at WLDI, Phil LeFevre, explains, “What my clients like about ODG is that it’s dependable.  No smoke.  No mirrors.  They can count on a new edition every year that clearly and succinctly expands and improves upon the last based on the best and latest available medical evidence.  It’s important to them.  It’s important to us.”

The 2007 editions in the ODG product line contain fully updated and expanded Treatment Planning, Procedure Summary, and Return-To-Work sections on which users have come to depend so heavily.  New features for the 12^th edition of Official Disability Guidelines include Workers’ Comp Cost tables for each condition and over 3.5 million lost time cases – bringing the aggregate total to over 13 million.  New features for the 5^th anniversary edition of ODG Treatment in Workers’ Comp include a Hip and Pelvis Chapter, a Patient Information Resource Appendix, and extensive Pharmaceutical Guidelines, including treatment for chronic pain. The pharmaceutical guidelines are particularly relevant due to the rising use, options and associated expense of pharmaceuticals, amounting to more than 10 percent of total workers’ comp costs.

Unlike other guidelines currently available for workers’ comp, ODG provides links from each recommendation to summaries of the supporting medical evidence, so it can be consulted and quoted directly.  In addition, ODG partakes in a rigorous and continual update process to add new features and keep on top of the latest studies, with annual publication of new editions and updates to the Web version throughout the year.  Finally, ODG is comprehensive and multidisciplinary in scope, covering conditions both acute and chronic, including virtually every therapy commonly used in workers’ comp, and representative of each of the various medical specialties active in the system.

Evidence-based, independent and easy to use, the complete ODG Treatment in Workers’ Comp is available for $325 on the Web or in textbook format, with multi-user discounts available. Official Disability Guidelines (without the treatment guidelines) is available alone at the cost of $195.  Raw data files for benchmarking claims data or integration with internal software applications are also available. Contact WLDI for licensing fees.