Alaska Administrative Code › Title 8 - Labor and Workforce Development › Part 3 - Workers' Compensation › Chapter 45 - Compensation, Medical Benefits, and Proceedings Before the Alaska Workers' Compensation Board › 8 AAC 45.092 - Second independent medical evaluation

Current through May 31, 2024
(a) The board will
				maintain a list of physicians' names for second independent medical
				evaluations. The names will be listed in categories based on the physician's
				designation of specialty or particular type of practice and the geographic
				location of the physician's practice.
(b) The list of physicians will be created as
				follows:
(1) The board or its designee will
				ask the Alaska Chiropractic Society, Alaska Dental Society, Alaska Optometric
				Association, and Alaska State Medical Association to make recommendations from
				within their respective specialty. The recommendations must be received by the
				board on or before November 1, 1989 and on or before November 1 of each year
				after that.
(2) Not later than
				December 15 of each year, the board will publish a bulletin listing the names
				of the physicians recommended by the Alaska Chiropractic Society, the Alaska
				Dental Society, the Alaska Optometric Association, and the Alaska State Medical
				Association as well as the names of second independent medical
				examiners.
(3) An attorney who
				meets the following criteria may, not later than March 1 of each year, submit a
				letter to the commissioner volunteering to serve on a panel to select
				physicians for inclusion on the board's list as described in (5) of this
				subsection. The attorney must
(A) be admitted
				to the practice of law in this or another state;
(B) have personally presented a total of
				three cases, no more than one of which was resolved by agreed settlements, for
				board decision during the calendar year preceding volunteering to serve on a
				panel; and
(C) in the calendar year
				preceding volunteering, have represented one class of litigants, either
				employee or employer, 90 percent of the time; based on the class of litigant
				that was represented 90 percent of the time, the commissioner will classify the
				attorney as either an employee or employer attorney.
(4) By May 1 of each year, the commissioner
				shall choose, from the attorneys who volunteered in accordance with (3) of this
				subsection, two employee attorneys and two employer attorneys to serve on a
				panel to select physicians for inclusion on the board's list of physicians. The
				panel shall meet and select physicians by August 1 of each year. The
				commissioner shall provide staff to schedule the panel's meetings, publish
				notice of the meetings, and arrange facilities or other support for the meeting
				to assist the panel, but the panel members may not be paid for their work or
				expenses for participating on the panel.
(5) The panel members shall vote, or abstain
				from voting, upon the physicians whose names were listed in the bulletin
				published under (2) of this subsection or are suggested by a panel member, even
				if the physician's name did not appear in the bulletin. A physician who
				receives three affirmative votes will be sent by the board or its designee an
				application and a letter asking if the physician is interested in performing
				second independent medical examinations. Unless the board determines that good
				cause exists to extend the time, not later than 60 days after the date of the
				board's letter the physician must submit
(A)
				a completed application listing the physician's education, training, work
				experience, specialty, and the particular discipline in which the physician is
				licensed, as well as the names and addresses of professional organizations that
				have certified the physician or in which the physician is an active
				member;
(B) a copy or proof of the
				physician's current license from the appropriate licensing agency in the state
				in which the physician practices;
(C) a certificate of insurance for the
				physician's current and enforceable professional liability insurance for the
				services performed; and
(D) a
				certificate of insurance for the physician's workers' compensation insurance if
				the physician has employees.
(6) If the physician complies with (5) of
				this subsection, the physician's name will be added to the board's list of
				second independent medical examiners, effective November 1 of that year. Except
				as provided in (7) of this subsection and (c) of this section, the physician's
				name will remain on the list for three years. After three years, the physician
				must be reselected in accordance with (5) of this subsection. If reselected,
				the physician will remain on the list unless
(A) three members of the panel described in
				(4) of this subsection recommend that the physician be removed from the list
				and the department determines that the removal of the physician is not
				inconsistent with this chapter; or
(B) the physician is removed from the list
				under (7) of this subsection or (c) of this section.
(7) Notwithstanding (d) of this section, the
				board may remove a physician's name from the list compiled in accordance with
				(6) of this subsection
(A) upon receipt of the
				physician's written notification that the physician no longer wants to perform
				second independent medical evaluations; or
(B) if, within 30 days after receipt of a
				written request, the physician does not annually submit a copy of or proof of
				licensing by the appropriate state agency, a certificate of insurance for
				professional liability insurance and, if required under AS 23.30, workers'
				compensation insurance.