On Monday, June 4, 2012 Risk Manager Larry Krause attended a seminar at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago. The event was free of charge, and covered new developments in the treatment of elbow, wrist and hand injuries in the workers’ compensation setting. Presenters were renowned hand surgeons from the Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush Physician Group.
At the end of the seminar, presenters held a roundtable discussion, in particular how employers were proceeding with the implementation of impairment ratings to help determine permanent partial disability settlements. The usage of impairment ratings to help determine permanent partial disability settlements was put in place by the State Legislature in reforms enacted in the workers’ compensation law last year for accidents that occurred after September 1, 2011.
The City has begun implementation of obtaining impairment ratings when settling workers’ compensation claims, as some of the employees that were injured after September 1 have begun to reach the settlement stage. It is hoped that over time that impairment ratings will add more consistency to settlements and lower costs by reducing permanency ratings somewhat.