Free Physician Access To Comp Guidelines Spurs Subscriptions

Physician subscriptions to California’s drug formulary and treatment guidelines are rising mere days after the California Division of Workers’ Compensation announced that medical providers who treat injured workers in the state would have free access, but doctors continue to object to treatment denials emanating from California’s utilization review process. The increase comes one year after not one provider treating injured workers signed up to access the state’s mandated comprehensive formulary and treatment guidelines, according to Joe Guerriero, Westminster, Colorado-based senior vice president who manages ReedGroup Ltd.’s medical guidelines and data platform. “It was extremely rough” getting doctors on board, many whom argued “we shouldn’t have to pay for something that the state is mandating,” Mr. Guerriero said Friday