Originally Posted by axm397

I went to their course last year because in Texas they require one of those courses and an exam to be a "certified examiner". You can treat work comp patients without the certification but to be a designated doctor or to be able to do disability ratings, the exam is needed.

I cringed in most of the lectures - because many of the lecturers are FPs and occ med docs who are anti-interventions and the assumption is that most workers fake the extent of their injuries. I sat through a lecture going over cases where the entire room groaned and rolled their eyes when the lecturer said, " and then, the pain management doctor diagnosed the patient with CRPS..." They hate CRPS or don't believe in them and they don't believe in interventions as well. They see the patients and pain docs as their enemies - and the animosity in the room was palpable.

I do think that there is overutilization of procedures and non-qualified "pain doctors" in the work comp system - but it seems most of the peer reviewers are ADEP members - and they are in the role where they are incentivized to deny procedures. For CRPS patients in particular, this leads to a delay in treatment - which can be detrimental for return to work prognosis.