Calif. DWC Embraces New Chronic Pain
Guideline: Top [08/21/07]
- Published by
www.WorkCompCentral.com
The California Division of Workers' Compensation unveiled a proposal Monday
for
new chronic pain treatment guides that would replace those published by the
American College of Environmental and Occupational Medicine.
The division intends to adopt a chronic pain section based on the Official
Disability Guidelines (ODG), according to the announcement. The
division's proposal tracks very closely with ODG's guidelines, said DWC
spokeswoman Susan Gard.
"Section one is completely ours but section two comes mainly from ODG,
except for a few sections where we want to look more closely at the evidence
to see if there is enough to support the treatment," Gard said.
The DWC, for example, is examining the reliability of cytokine testing,
which is DNA testing that looks for toxic exposures and a marker for chronic
pain, Gard revealed. The proposed medical treatment guides indicate those
procedures that are under examination for future consideration.
The DWC is switching to ODG's guideline for chronic pain because it's more
specific than ACOEM, both for diagnostics and for treatment, according to
Gard.
The DWC intends to add ACOEM's 2007 revised elbow complaints chapter in the
medical treatment utilization schedule.
An April 2006 Rand Corp. study noted that chronic pain is one of the
conditions which ACOEM "addresses minimally or not at all."
The 2006
Official Disability Guidelines are considered superior because they
offer 13 steps to determine a patient's history of chronic pain, and six
steps for the physical examination of chronic pain. They also give
instructions to begin an assessment of the presumed chronic pain, and a
concise summary of the benefits of potential treatments, according to the
National Guideline Clearinghouse.
The proposed changes to California's medical treatment guidelines are posted
online for public comment. The DWC is accepting written comments through
Sept. 4.
To view them, click on "current forums" and follow the link to the medical
treatment utilization schedule documents at:
http://www.dir.ca.gov/Wcjudicial.htm
Source: WorkCompCentral
