Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 810 - Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Commission › Chapter 10 - Practice and Procedure › Subchapter 5 - Hearings Conducted by Administrative Law Judges and Commissioners › Part 7 - INITIAL AND SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS › Section 810:10-5-46 - Evaluation of permanent impairment

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
(a)
Generally.
Except for scheduled member injuries enumerated in 85A O.S. § 46, evaluations of permanent impairment for injuries occurring on or after February 1, 2014 shall be evaluated as a percentage of whole body impairment, not to exceed 350 weeks, and must be based solely on criteria established by the edition of the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment listed in 85A O.S. § 45. Deviations from the Guides are permitted only when specifically provided for in the Guides, or pursuant to an alternative method of evaluation approved pursuant to 85A O.S. § 60 that deviates from or is used in place of or in combination with the Guides. Such deviations must be medically reasonable and necessary, as shown by clear and convincing evidence.
(b)
Change of condition.
Evaluations of permanent impairment which are prepared in support of a Motion of Change of Condition occurring on or after February 1, 2014 shall be performed using the appropriate edition of the AMA Guides, including any approved alternative method of evaluation developed as provided in 85A O.S. § 60 that deviates from or is used in place of or in combination with the Guides, in effect on the date of injury.
(c)
Hearing impairment.
The appropriate edition of the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, or any alternative method approved pursuant to 85A O.S. § 60 that deviates from or is used in place of or in combination with the Guides, in effect on the date of injury, shall be used to evaluate permanent impairment caused by hearing loss where the last exposure occurred on or after February 1, 2014. Objective findings necessary to prove permanent disability in occupational hearing loss cases may be established by medically recognized and accepted clinical diagnostic methodologies, including, but not limited to audiological tests that measure air and bone conduction thresholds and speech discrimination ability. Differences in baseline hearing levels shall be confirmed by subsequent testing given within four (4) weeks of the initial baseline hearing level test.
(d)
Eye impairment.
(1) The criteria for measuring and calculating the percentage of eye impairment for an injury occurring on or after February 1, 2014 shall be pursuant to this Subsection. A physician may deviate from the method of evaluation provided for in this Subsection or may use some other recognized method of evaluation, if the deviation or the method of evaluation is fully explained.
(2) Physicians should consult the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment regarding the equipment necessary to test eye function and for methods of evaluating vision loss. Evaluation of visual impairment may be based upon visual acuity for distance and near, visual fields and ocular motility with absence of diplopia.
(3) Use of corrective lenses may be considered in evaluating the extent of vision loss, 85A O.S. § 46(E).