Posted On: October 20, 2004, 7:23 am CDT

Posted By: John H. Gantner

This "dueliong doctors" issue is far from new. It arises from the repeated use of the same consulting doctors by carriers. There needs to be a more fair selection process. Random selection makes far more sense. Everyone knows that those who write one sided reports are employed more often. At the same time better credentialed doctors are often not used, especialy in the area of chiropractic claims - where they often see out younger practitioners who work for less and put out reports that are clearly worth what the carrier pays.

It is clear to me that nobody ever thinks of the amount of money that is wasted in the legal hassles, delay and frustration caused by lousy IME's. All this while comp carriers continue their wasteful ways - clearly over-examining and under-treating injured workers. And at the same time we see HMO's skim their percentage of today's health care expense with little to show for it.
These initiatives only save money in the short term. Once every one is disenchanted they try another ridiculous and wasteful approach. It's tragic that this has to be all about money. Carrier's profitability is not what the WC laws were passed to serve.