Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8 § 9767.5

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 45, November 8, 2024

Section 9767.5 - Access Standards

(a) A MPN must have at least three available physicians of each specialty to treat common injuries experienced by injured employees based on the type of occupation or industry in which the employee is engaged and within the access standards set forth in (1) and (2).

(1) An MPN must have at least three available primary treating physicians and a hospital for emergency health care services, or if separate from such hospital, a provider of all emergency health care services, within 30 minutes or 15 miles of each covered employee's residence or workplace.

(2) An MPN must have providers of occupational health services and specialists who can treat common injuries experienced by the covered injured employees within 60 minutes or 30 miles of a covered employee's residence or workplace.

(b) If an MPN applicant believes that, given the facts and circumstances with regard to a portion of its service area, specifically areas in which there is a health care shortage, including non-rural areas and rural areas in which health facilities are located at least 30 miles apart, the accessibility standards set forth in subdivisions (a)(1) and/or (a)(2) cannot be met, the MPN applicant may propose alternative standards of accessibility for that portion of its service area. The MPN applicant shall do so by including the proposed alternative standards in writing in its plan application or in a notice of MPN plan modification and shall be reviewed and approved by the Administrative Director before the alternative standard can be used. The applicant shall explain how the proposed alternative standard was determined to be necessary for the specialty(ies) in which there is a health care shortage, including a description of the geographic area(s) affected for each specialty at issue, how the applicant determined a physician shortage exists in each area and specialty how the alternative access distance was determined and why it is necessary. The alternative standards shall provide that all services shall be available and accessible at reasonable times to all covered employees.

(c) If a covered employee is not able to obtain from an MPN physician reasonable and necessary medical treatment within the applicable access standards in subdivisions (a) or (b) and the required time frames in subdivisions (f) and (g), then the MPN shall have a written policy permitting the covered employee to obtain necessary treatment for that injury from an appropriate specialist outside the MPN within a reasonable geographic area. When the MPN is able to provide the necessary treatment through an MPN physician, a covered employee treating outside the MPN may be required to treat with an MPN physician when a transfer is appropriate.

(d) If an MPN provides ancillary services and those services or goods are not available within a reasonable time or a reasonable geographic area to a covered employee, then the employee may obtain necessary ancillary services outside of the MPN within a reasonable geographic area.

(e)

(1) The MPN applicant shall have a written policy for arranging or approving non-emergency medical care for:

(A) a covered employee authorized by the employer to temporarily work or travel for work outside the MPN geographic service area when the need for medical care arises;

(B) a former employee whose employer has ongoing workers' compensation obligations and who permanently resides outside the MPN geographic service area; and

(C) an injured employee who decides to temporarily reside outside the MPN geographic service area during recovery.

(2) The written policy shall provide the employees described in subdivision (e)(1) above with a list of at least three physicians outside the MPN geographic service area who either have been referred by the employee's primary treating physician within the MPN or have been selected by the MPN applicant. In addition to physicians within the MPN, the employee may change physicians among the referred physicians and may obtain a second and third opinion from the referred physicians.

(3) The referred physicians shall be located within the access standards described in (a) of this section.

(4) Nothing in this section precludes a covered employee outside the MPN geographic service area from choosing his or her own provider for non-emergency medical care.

(f) For non-emergency services, the MPN applicant shall ensure that an appointment for the first treatment visit under the MPN is available within 3 business days of a covered employee's notice to an MPN medical access assistant that treatment is needed.

(g) For non-emergency specialist services to treat common injuries experienced by the covered employees based on the type of occupation or industry in which the employee is engaged, the MPN applicant shall ensure that an initial appointment with a specialist in an appropriate referred specialty is available within 20 business days of a covered employee's reasonable requests for an appointment through an MPN medical access assistant. If an MPN medical access assistant is unable to schedule a timely medical appointment with an appropriate specialist within ten business days of an employee's request, the employer shall permit the employee to obtain necessary treatment with an appropriate specialist outside of the MPN.

(h) MPN medical access assistants shall be located in the United States and shall be available, at a minimum, from Monday through Saturday from 7 am to 8 pm, Pacific Time, to provide employee assistance with access to medical care under the MPN. The employee assistance shall be available in English and Spanish. The assistance shall include but not be limited to contacting provider offices during regular business hours and scheduling medical appointments for covered employees.

(1) There shall be at least one MPN medical access assistant available to respond at all required times, with the ability for callers to leave a voice message. There shall be enough medical access assistants to respond to calls, faxes or messages by the next day, excluding Sundays and holidays.

(2) MPN medical access assistants have different duties than claims adjusters. MPN medical access assistants work in coordination with the MPN Contact and the claims adjuster(s) to ensure timely and appropriate medical treatment is provided to the injured worker. Although their duties are different, if the same person performs both, the MPN medical access assistant's contacts must be separately and accurately logged.

(i) If the primary treating physician refers the covered employee to a type of specialist not included in the MPN, the covered employee may select a specialist from outside the MPN.

(j) The MPN applicant shall have a written policy to allow an injured employee to receive emergency health care services from a medical service or hospital provider who is not a member of the MPN.

Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 8, § 9767.5

1. New section filed 11-1-2004 as an emergency; operative 11-1-2004 (Register 2004, No. 45). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 3-1-2005 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
2. New section refiled 2-28-2005 as an emergency; operative 3-1-2005 (Register 2005, No. 9). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 6-29-2005 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
3. New section refiled 6-20-2005 as an emergency; operative 6-29-2005 (Register 2005, No. 25). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-27-2005 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
4. Certificate of Compliance as to 6-20-2005 order, including amendment of section, transmitted to OAL 7-29-2005 and filed 9-9-2005 (Register 2005, No. 36).
5. Amendment of section and NOTE filed 8-27-2014; operative 8-27-2014 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2014, No. 35).

Note: Authority cited: Sections 133 and 4616(h), Labor Code. Reference: Sections 4616 and 4616.3, Labor Code.

1. New section filed 11-1-2004 as an emergency; operative 11-1-2004 (Register 2004, No. 45). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 3-1-2005 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
2. New section refiled 2-28-2005 as an emergency; operative 3-1-2005 (Register 2005, No. 9). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 6-29-2005 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
3. New section refiled 6-20-2005 as an emergency; operative 6-29-2005 (Register 2005, No. 25). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-27-2005 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
4. Certificate of Compliance as to 6-20-2005 order, including amendment of section, transmitted to OAL 7-29-2005 and filed 9-9-2005 (Register 2005, No. 36).
5. Amendment of section and Note filed 8-27-2014; operative 8/27/2014 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2014, No. 35).