(a) The list of approved practicing
physicians, surgeons, podiatrists, optometrists and dentists from which an
injured employee shall choose for examination and treatment under the
provisions of Chapter 568, including but not limited to specialists, shall
include all such practitioners who hold a current and valid license in their
field in the State of Connecticut and who meet the following standards:
(1) continuation of a current and valid
license in the State without revocation, suspension or limitation of such
license in any way;
(2) possession
of a valid federal Drug Enforcement Administration registration certificate in
the case of practitioners whose license permits them to prescribe controlled
drugs;
(3) compliance with the
Medicare anti-kickback regulations promulgated by the United States Department
of Health and Human Services;
(4)
possession of admitting/active staff privileges at a general hospital
accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, if such
privileges are required in order to provide satisfactory professional services
within the practitioner's area of practice;
(5) compliance with the administrative
obligations of attending physicians and other practitioners under Section
31-279-9
of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies;
(6) forbearance from requiring in advance a
payment for providing an opinion or report, either written or oral, or for
presenting testimony as a witness at a hearing or a deposition;
(7) completion of a course of training,
approved by the Chairman, which course shall include a session describing the
general responsibilities and obligations of physicians under the provisions of
Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 568, along with training in the
recognition and reporting of certain occupational and other diseases under
sections
31-40a
and
19a-110
of the Connecticut General Statutes; and
(8) forbearance from referring workers'
compensation patients for physical therapy or diagnostic testing to a facility
in which such practitioner has an ownership or investment interest other than
ownership of investment securities purchased by the practitioner on terms
available to the general public and which are publicly traded.
(b) The chairman of the Workers'
Compensation Commission may, after notice and an opportunity to be heard,
remove a practitioner from the list of approved physicians, surgeons,
podiatrists, optometrists or dentists if such practitioner fails to meet one or
more of the standards in subsection (a) of this section.
