NYS Workers Compensation BPR project and Medical Portal update

The NYSCA WC Committee attended the first informational meeting of the second phase of the WC Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) project.  In an effort to reach out to stakeholders, the WCB will be traveling with this presentation throughout the state.  Interested parties are encouraged to attend and provide feedback.  You can find dates and locations using this link: http://www.wcb.ny.gov/BPR/Roadshows.jsp

The WCB has developed a Medical Portal, which is currently being tested to handle authorizations.  Likely beginning use Fall 2016.  For those who can't make the live meetings, there is a Medical Portal webinar on July 12th.

Other areas of exploration and future changes discussed were:

• Monitoring carrier compliance and performance metrics
• Virtual (video) hearings to improve patient ease/access
• Improved efforts for outreach and education to stakeholders, including online videos for patients
• How technology could be leveraged to improve communications within the system
• Updating the WCB website
• Creating of a voluntary ending review to expedite the appeals process
• Ways to make the IME process more impartial
• Exploration and encouragement of expansion of the PPO model in WC