Tennessee Votes To Adopt ODG Treatment Guidelines

Nashville, TN, Apr. 27, 2015– The Tennessee Division of Workers’ Compensation’s Medical Advisory Committee voted 7-0 to adopt the ODG treatment guidelines for the formulary the division is working on implementing, said Workers’ Compensation Administrator Abbie Hudgens.

Tennessee’s new regulations will be similar to the Texas DWC closed formulary, which uses the ODG guidelines and formulary. First implemented for new claims in September 2011, the Texas closed formulary has been credited with a substantial reduction in opiate abuse, including a 75% drop in prescriptions for non approved drugs in the first year following implementation, with a corresponding 82% reduction in costs.

Hudgens credited the committee’s choice with both their study of different states, as well as their study of the guidelines themselves. “We looked at ODG as (to) how it played out in Texas. We looked at the Washington state guidelines. We looked at ACOEM’s guidelines…we talked to different people that had utilized those.”

“The committee members spent a lot of time actually looking at the guidelines themselves and going to the website. I think that was a bigger factor; it certainly helped,” said Hudgens. “I think they felt like it was practical, it was easier to use,” she said of the ODG guidelines.

Trey Gillespie, senior workers’ compensation director of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, was pleased with the Tennessee DWC choice to adopt ODG.

“I think the ODG is … (an) evidence-based medical treatment guideline that’s nationally recognized, and it’s constantly being updated,” Gillespie said. “And consequently, it’s potentially an excellent choice for Tennessee because it allows injured workers in Tennessee to get appropriate medical care based on the most up-to-date medical research.”

Hudgens said she expects to send a rule draft to the attorney general’s office for review within the next month. By law, she said, the rules will need to be in place by the beginning of 2016. (Update: The rule is scheduled to take effect on February 28, 2016.)

ODG, published by independent database development company Work Loss Data Institute, provides evidence-based medical treatment and disability duration guidelines to improve and benchmark outcomes for illness and injury cases. ODG is available in a web-based format and is used in all 50 states and worldwide.