CWCI Offers Training on Workers’ Comp Privacy Issues

The California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) will conduct a half-day seminars in Long Beach and San Francisco to help the workers’ compensation community understand federal and state medical privacy rules and develop safe, practical approaches to obtaining the records necessary to administer claims.

The program will discuss the impact of federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations on California workers’ comp, review state law (including AB 435 restrictions on information claims administrators can provide to employers) and offer practical suggestions on how to strike an appropriate balance between a worker’s privacy rights and an employer’s right to information affecting their premium (LC §3762).

The seminar will also cover relevant case law, with a panel discussion on how various court interpretations of privacy issues affect benefit delivery and claim adjudication decisions.

The program is for claims administrators and managers, attorneys, hearing reps, medical case managers and those with staff training responsibilities.

CWCI General Counsel Mike McClain noted, “The goal is to improve claims administrators’ and medical managers’ awareness of how privacy issues affect claim operations and the potential liability for their organizations. They should come away with a lot of practical knowledge: what they’re entitled to know, when they’re entitled to know it, who is supposed to provide it, and how they’re supposed to get it. On the flip side they’ll learn what information they can release and who they can release it to.”

Course materials include information on HIPAA regulations and state laws, case law summaries with citations and suggestions companies can use to develop suitable strategies and approaches to deal with privacy issues.

The seminar will run from 8:45 a.m. to noon, Thursday, April 4 at the Renaissance Long Beach Hotel, and Friday, April 5 at the Sheraton Palace Hotel in San Francisco.