Federal Employees' Compensation Act: No Evidence That Labor's Physician Selection Processes Biased Claims Decisions
GGD-94-67
Published: Feb 11, 1994. Publicly Released: Feb 17, 1994.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs' (OWCP) administration of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, focusing on: (1) whether OWCP obtains and uses medical evidence prepared by physicians conducting second-opinion exams and impartial medical examinations (IME) to minimize the possibility of bias against claimants; (2) OWCP procedures for selecting physicians to conduct IME and second-opinion exams; (3) the timeliness and amounts of OWCP payments to OWCP-selected physicians and claimants' physicians; and (4) OWCP efforts to increase the number of physicians willing to conduct second-opinion exams and IME.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Labor | To further ensure unbiased selection of IME physicians and to reduce the potential for perception of bias, the Secretary of Labor should direct OWCP to provide guidance on how IME physicians are to be selected when they are unable to use PDS. |
Labor revised its medical procedures manual (FECA Transmittal No. 94-12) to more clearly define methods for selecting physicians for independent medical examinations when the physician directory system cannot be used.
|
| Department of Labor | To further ensure unbiased selection of IME physicians and to reduce the potential for perception of bias, the Secretary of Labor should direct OWCP to provide guidance on when to obtain supervisory approval before using selection methods not specified by the guidance. |
Labor published revised guidelines to more clearly define methods for selecting physicians who conduct independent medical examinations when the physicians directory system cannot be used and to require documentation when the system is not used. As such, the need for supervisory approval would not seem to be essential to further ensuring the unbiased selection of IME physicians.
|
| Department of Labor | The Secretary of Labor should direct OWCP to prepare documentation in all cases in which PDS is not used to schedule IME. |
Labor revised procedures (FECA Transmittal No. 94-12) state that a manual log showing the name and case file number of the claimant, the name, location, and specialty of the physician selected, and a brief note of the reason for departing from the usual selection method should be prepared.
|
Full Report
GAO Contacts
Public Inquiries
Topics
Compensation claimsDisability benefitsEligibility determinationsInformation systemsMedical examinationsMedical feesPaymentsPersonnel recruitingPhysiciansWorkers compensation