California Code of Regulations
Title 8 - Industrial Relations
Division 1 - Department of Industrial Relations
Chapter 1 - Division of Workers' Compensation - Qualified Medical Evaluator Regulations
Article 3 - Assignment of Qualified Medical Evaluators, Evaluation Procedure
Section 35 - Exchange of Information and Ex Parte Communications

Universal Citation: 8 CA Code of Regs 35

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024

(a) The claims administrator, or if none the employer, shall provide, and the injured worker may provide, the following information to the evaluator, whether an AME or QME:

(1) All records prepared or maintained by the employee's treating physician or physicians;

(2) Other medical records, including any previous treatment records or information, which are relevant to determination of the medical issue(s) in dispute;

(3) A letter outlining the medical determination of the primary treating physician or the compensability issue(s) that the evaluator is requested to address in the evaluation, which shall be served on the opposing party no less than 20 days in advance of the evaluation;

(4) Where the evaluation is for injuries that occurred before January 1, 2013, concerning a dispute over a utilization review decision if the decision is communicated to the requesting physician on or before June 30, 2013, whenever the treating physician's recommended medical treatment is disputed, a copy of the treating physician's report recommending the medical treatment with all supporting documents, a copy of claims administrator's, or if none the employer's, decision to approve, delay, deny or modify the disputed treatment with the documents supporting the decision, and all other relevant communications about the disputed treatment exchanged during the utilization review process required by Labor Code section 4610;

(5) Non-medical records, including films and videotapes, which are relevant to determination of medical issue(s) in dispute, after compliance with subdivision of Title 835(c) of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.

(b)

(1) Except as expressly provided in Labor Code section 4062.3(f) concerning communications with an agreed medical evaluator, all communications by the parties with the evaluator shall be in writing and sent simultaneously to the opposing party when sent to the medical evaluator, except as otherwise provided in subdivisions (c), (k) and (l) of this section. Labor Code section 4062.3(f) allows oral or written communications with an AME physician or the physician's staff relative to nonsubstantive matters such as the scheduling of appointments, missed appointments, the furnishing of records and reports, and the availability of the report, unless the appeals board has made a specific finding of an impermissible ex parte communication.

(2) Represented parties who have selected an Agreed Medical Evaluator shall, as part of their agreement, agree on what information is to be provided to the AME.

(c) At least twenty (20) days before the information is to be provided to the evaluator, the party providing such medical and non-medical reports and information shall serve it on the opposing party. Mental health records that are subject to the protections of Health and Safety Code section 123115(b) shall not be served directly on the injured employee, but may be provided to a designated health care provider as provided in section 123115(b)(2), and the injured employee shall be notified in writing of this option for each such record to be provided to the evaluator. In both unrepresented and represented cases the claims administrator shall attach a log to the front of the records and information being sent to the opposing party that identifies each record or other information to be sent to the evaluator and lists each item in the order it is attached to or appears on the log. In a represented case, the injured worker's attorney shall do the same for any records or other information to be sent to the evaluator directly from the attorney's office, if any. The claims administrator, or if none the employer, shall include a cover letter or other document when providing such information to the employee which shall clearly and conspicuously include the following language: "Please look carefully at the enclosed information. It may be used by the doctor who is evaluating your medical condition as it relates to your workers' compensation claim. If you do not want the doctor to see this information, you must let me know within 10 days."

(d) If the opposing party objects within 10 days to any non-medical records or information proposed to be sent to an evaluator, those records and that information shall not be provided to the evaluator unless so ordered by a Workers' Compensation Administrative Law Judge.

(e) In no event shall any party forward to the evaluator:

(1) any medical/legal report which has been rejected by a party as untimely pursuant to Labor Code section 4062.5;

(2) any evaluation or consulting report written by any physician other than a treating physician, the primary treating physician or secondary physician, or an evaluator through the medical-legal process in Labor Code sections 4060 through 4062, that addresses permanent impairment, permanent disability or apportionment under California workers' compensation laws, unless that physician's report has first been ruled admissible by a Workers' Compensation Administrative Law Judge; or

(3) any medical report or record or other information or thing which has been stricken, or found inadequate or inadmissible by a Workers' Compensation Administrative Law Judge, or which otherwise has been deemed inadmissible to the evaluator as a matter of law.

(f) Either party may use discovery to establish the accuracy or authenticity of non-medical records or information prior to the evaluation.

(g) Copies of all records being sent to the evaluator shall be sent to all parties except as otherwise provided in section (d) and (e). Failure to do so shall constitute ex parte communication within the meaning of subdivision (k) below by the party transmitting the information to the evaluator.

(h) In the event that the unrepresented employee schedules an appointment within 20 days of receipt of the panel, the employer or if none, the claims administrator shall not be required to comply with the 20 day time frame for sending medical information in subsection (c) provided, however, that the unrepresented employee is served all non-medical information in subdivision (c) 20 days prior to the information being served on the QME so the employee has an opportunity to object to any non-medical information.

(i) If any party fails to provide relevant medical records within 10 days after the date of the evaluation, and the evaluator is unable to obtain the records, the evaluator shall complete and serve the report to comply with the statutory time frames under section of Title 838 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations. The evaluator shall note in the report that the records were not received within the required time period. Upon request by a party, or the Appeals Board, the evaluator shall complete a supplemental evaluation when the relevant medical records are received. For a supplemental report the evaluator need not conduct an additional physical examination of the employee if the evaluator believes a review of the additional records is sufficient.

(j) The evaluator and the employee's treating physician(s) may consult as necessary to produce a complete and accurate report. The evaluator shall note within the report new or additional information received from the treating physician.

(k) The Appeals Board shall retain jurisdiction in all cases to determine disputes arising from objections and whether ex parte contact in violation of Labor Code section 4062.3 or this section of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations has occurred. If any party communicates with an evaluator in violation of Labor Code section 4062.3, the Medical Director shall provide the aggrieved party with a new panel in which to select a new QME or the aggrieved party may elect to proceed with the original evaluator. Oral or written communications by the employee, or if the employee is deceased by the employee's dependent, made in the course of the examination or made at the request of the evaluator in connection with the examination shall not provide grounds for a new evaluator unless the Appeals Board has made a specific finding of an impermissible ex parte communication.

(l) In claims involving a date of injury prior to 1/1/2005 where the injured worker is represented by an attorney and the parties have decided to each select a separate Qualified Medical Evaluator, the provisions of this section shall not apply to the communications between a party and the QME selected by that party.

Note: Authority cited: Sections 133, 139.2 and 5307.3, Labor Code. Reference: Sections 139.2, 4060, 4061, 4062, 4062.1, 4062.2, 4062.3, 4064 and 4067, Labor Code.

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