Monday Muses ~IME's the questions keep growing.
Rosemary McKenzie-Ferguson
Founder at Craig's Table- Recipient Summa Comp Laude 2021-22 Recipient Bloom Making a Difference Award 2023
Over the last months it seems that the only concerns that have required extended time and research have all stemmed from the IME process. Monday Muses ~where is the information? I am still waiting for the required authorities to answer this question.
I know the answer is that no one actually knows where this highly confidential information is or even if it still exists.
Worse still is that no one in authority knows just how many members of the injured worker community will/may be impacted by the loss of such confidential information.
These confidential documents form part of the workers compensation legal format and can be tested within the Court process.
What happens to any legal concern or challenge if these documents are unable to be located is yet another unknown ponderance?
Then there is the question of "ownership" of the documents.
Do the documents "belong" to the medico-legal provider or to the medical specialist who was contracted through the medico-legal provider or to the workers compensation claims agent who engaged the medico-legal provider who in turn contracted the medical specialist?
What right [if any] within the process goes to the members of the injured worker community who are required by law to comply with the direction of the workers compensation claims agent to attend the IME appointment and provide highly confidential medical information as well as highly confidential personal information.
For my part I am aware of 2 medico-legal providers who have been liquidated, I do not know how many confidential files are missing.
However the bigger concern is that the required authority was not aware that any medico-legal providers had closed. That for me is the larger concern.
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There are the times when members of the injured worker community seek to access via legal discovery the original IME documents as written/recorded/videoed during the IME appointment only to have the workers compensation claims agent withdraw the IME Report.
I was not in the least surprised when the withdrawal of IME Reports happened again last week. In one instance the process has had to be re-started because the reliance on the transmitted IME documents [please re-read Monday Muses -{slightly redacted} Hansard to understand why I use the word "transmitted"] meant the only way forward was to scrap everything and re-start. Not as much as a "whoops sorry about that" has been offered to either the member of the injured worker community or the employer.
Nor has there been any consideration regarding who will cover the costs involved, nor has there been any reason put forward to explain just why the workers compensation claims agent decided to withdraw the IME Report; I suspect though it had a lot to do with the multiple contradictions that were found within the IME Report.
Nor has the workers compensation process acknowledged that considerable time many many months] has been lost and that that time must be re-instated to the member of the injured worker community as the fault that has occurred must not be able to be used as a penalty in a time bracketed system.
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Going on memory it was 2004/2005 I was "invited" to provide information to a Parliamentary investigation into the workers compensation process.
I remember exactly where I was sitting when the invitation arrived in the mail. My first reaction was to phone The Marksman, I knew he had also been "invited" to the same Inquiry though he was to "appear" at a different section and for different reasons. For me though this was the first of what would be many such "invitations" The Marksman walked me through the process, what to say how to answer questions, how to ask the Inquiry committee questions, it is/it can be quite a process.
Among the concerns the Inquiry was the costs of Fly-In-Fly-Out IME process. [side note here, one leading medical specialist still holds me responsible for loss of interstate IME bookings all because I answered questions that were put to me via this Inquiry] At that time the Fly-In-Fly-Out IME's were paid from what was referred to as front door back to front door. Costs paid covered travel, accommodation, meal allowance, taxi's and room rental and other unforeseen acceptable costs. It was estimated that some of the Fly-In-Fly-Out IME's were making as much if not more from the front door back to front door as they were for the IME Reports that were written. Hence the Fly-In-Fly-Out IME process was to be curtailed to unique circumstance only.
There is a reason I bring this 20year old history up now.
Last week I received a call from another advocate within the injured worker community. The call was regarding a very upset member of the injured worker community. A referral to an IME had been made, the referral had prompted a search of the medical specialists name; what was found caused distress for an already distressed person, hence the call to me.
I repeated the same search and although I saw the same articles I noticed extra details that caused concern, concern that raised questions and questions that needed answers.
The concern for me came from the lack of such information on the interstate workers compensation system. I phoned the interstate system to have it confirmed that this medical specialist does not engage as either a treating or an IME provider within his/her home State. I also phoned AHPRA to confirm that there are currently no restrictions for this particular medical specialist. No one could explain as to why this medical specialist did not engage within his/her home State; each conversation I had left me with more questions and as yet not one answer.
There is a great line for the movie "Operation Mincemeat" "in any story; if it is a good story there is that which is seen and that which is hidden" I have to question
We need also ask
There are more question that I have put to the required authority such as was the authority aware that this particular IME does not engage within their own home State's workers compensation system and just how many other non-unique Fly-In-Fly-Out IME's can be located within the system.
I fully accept that unique requirements can be and are found within the workers compensation treating and non-treating process. For example Tasmania requires Fly-In-Fly-Out treating and non-treating medical specialists simply because Tasmania relies heavily on visiting medical providers for its own every day medical requirements, likewise the Northern Territory also relies heavily on Fly-In-Fly-Out treating and non-treating medical specialists. However in the larger States there is no-need for non-unique Fly-In-Fly-Out IME Report writer.
I also spent time last week checking with medical providers who I know and trust, what each of them told me is this particular Fly-In-Fly-Out IME is known as a "gun for hire" used by the workers compensation claims agents to gain a Report. Is that gossip or hearsay or the opinion of others I will leave that for you to consider. I am unable to provide an opinion as all I know is what I have read and what others have talked with me about.
My role in this is to bring yet another concern regarding the IME process out to be seen and discussed.
There may well-be a perfectly good explanation as to why this particular Fly-In-Fly-Out IME was engaged, or it may be part of the "preferred to be unseen/non-questioned" component of the IME process.
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Shattered is in the final stages of editing. I am in awe of just how hard both Kathie Melocco and Ballina Gee have worked to put together what is the first honest investigation into the way the Australian workers compensation process has grown unchecked and the impact the system has had on far far too many people. The journeys that have been taken the outcomes that have had to be faced are going to be seen in true rawness.
I know what will come as a result of Shattered, there will be more broken people seeking a place to be seen to be heard and to be understood. In my capacity I have done all I can to inform the authorities that there will be no ability to walk back from what is to be exposed.
It will not just be members of the injured worker community wo will require answers, employers will also need answers as will IME Report writers who have no idea that their Reports may have been tampered with.
As Shattered becomes part of the greater public knowing collective the required authorities will need to have a way forward.
Thus far I have not seen any interest in gaining a framework to move forward with- it will not be possible to remain with Business As Usual.
If you have not already done so please sign Demand a Royal Commission into Insurance Systems Abuse in NSW Workers Compensation Scheme
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Fund raiser
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Conferences-Panels-Training-Webinars-Industry Groups
Workers' Compensation Institute Give Kids The World Village VOLUNTEER DAY and the GALA Saturday, August 17th!!
AILA 2024 NATIONAL CONFERENCE 11 September 2024 6:30pm – 9:30pm AEST Broadbeach, Queensland
National Health Workforce Summit 21 – 22 October 2024 Swissotel Sydney
Podcast/Radio interview
Awards nominations
Nominate for the Bloom Awards [nomination close1st September]
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The days are definitely getting longer, dusk has arrived, the solar lights in the courtyard are starting to flicker as they wait for true darkness before they light completely. This afternoon I noticed that the nodding violets have started to flower but most important of all the tiny birds who nest near my back fence are once again busy with nest building.
For now though it is time to check the spelling and put Marlo's selection into place then make a cup of tea as I prepare dinner.
Yours in service
Rosemary
Marlo has been entertaining the younger members of his family over the weekend. Hence for your entertainment this week you don't get music you get 2 animation movies.
And from me for my friend Aras Geylani just something I wrote last evening [it's an inside joke that will make Aras laugh]
Ambassador Survivor’s R Us ... Supporting the fight against Domestic Abuse.
4moPlausible deniability. They play dumb and keep their heads in the sand, that way they can deny anything because they don’t know or have suddenly no recollection of any events.
Impact Advocacy Producer | Social Justice Safeguarding and Restorative Reforms | Concept to Delivery Project Implementer of Innovation - Startup - Social Impact | Award Winning Performance Artist
4moSuch an impactful and knowledgeable service that has transformed and brought awareness to this industry especially IMEs. I feel honoured to have been mentioned in your post. Sharing lived experience and doing it justice in order to ignite real change is what I hope we can achieve as a collective.