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About Dr. Sydney Shaber
A medical professional with an extensive background in workers’ compensation issues, Dr. Sydney Shaber currently provides work-related injury evaluations at Accurate Medical Assessment Ratings Center. With several locations throughout the state, Accurate Medical Assessment Ratings Center specializes in determining an individual’s ability to work, as well as perform the activities of daily living as they apply to the ability to work. The author of the article “ACOEM, AMA Guides and Functional Capacity Assessments” in getMedLegal Magazine, Dr. Sydney Shaber emphasizes the importance of performing Functional Capacity Assessments (FCAs) and rating measurements according to guidelines established by the American Medical Association Guidelines to the Evaluation of Permanant Impairment, 5th Edition. Committed to achieving fair and correct awards for injured workers, Dr. Sydney Shaber advocates for other physicians to correctly apply these guidelines to avoid disability ratings that can be challenged and therefore result in longer cases, increased litigation, and unfair worker compensation. Through the Employability Screening Study incorporated into the FCA, Dr. Sydney Shaber aims to save time for all parties and bring to court only the cases of diminished future earning capacity (DFEC) that are well-founded. Previously, Dr. Sydney Shaber worked to assist the rehabilitation process for injured farm workers in the Salinas Valley, a heavily agricultural region characterized by large numbers of migrant workers and their families.
Dr. Sydney Shaber received his undergraduate education at University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. A graduate of the California College of Podiatric Medicine, Dr. Sydney Shaber also served as Assistant Clinical Professor of Podiatric Medicine and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Podiatric Surgery at his alma mater. Dr. Sydney Shaber has contributed to several community and charitable organizations, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, the Hartnell College Foundation, Rotary International, and Flying Doctors of America.
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Ensuring ACOEM-based Medical Examinations for Injured Workers
July, 2011
Ensuring ACOEM-based Medical Examinations for Injured Workers by Syd Shaber
In my position as medical specialist with the Accurate Medical Assessment Rating Center, I strive to ensure fair and accurate compensation for injured employees within the California workers’ compensation system. In the past five years, the California legislature has created a system of workers’ compensation more responsive to injured workers through California state laws SB 228 and SB 899, as well as through associated regulations. In particular, these laws provide for the application of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine’s (ACOEM) Occupational Medicine Practice Guidelines, 2nd Edition; and the American Medical Association (AMA) Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, 5th Edition.
ACOEM and AMA compliance involves face-to-face patient interaction with primary treating physicians (PTP). Contrary to expectation, physician awareness of ACOEM and AMA guidelines has been lax, with the State of California Division of Workers’ Compensation Disability Evaluation Unit finding AMA compliance rates of only around 20 percent. In order to ensure fair and accurate workers’ compensation, I suggest PTP utilize the services of AMA experts in completing Permanent and Stationary / Maximum Medical Improvement examinations and reports.
Getting a well-qualified physician is naturally of highest priority for attorneys and the patients they represent. Many doctors involved in workers’ compensation cases are provided through the State Fund’s Medical Provider Network (MPN). MPN physicians specialize in occupational injury treatment, with the MPN system set up to assist employers in managing medical costs. Unfortunately, many prominent attorneys question whether MPN physicians address the entire range of work-related injury issues necessary to ensure ACOEM compliance, including sleep, internal medicine, and psychological issues. These attorneys feel they can only achieve an accurate medical rating through removing their client from the MPN system, as it essentially acts as an insurance company that contracts physicians. Through taking control of medical treatment and utilizing available ACOEM-licensed technology, attorneys ensure that injured worker clients receive fair workers’ compensation.
Required under SB 228 and SB 899, ACOEM-based examinations require more attention to detail than is currently the MPN-contracted physician norm. This includes personal interaction and thorough consideration of risk factors. The company I work for, Accurate Medical Assessment Rating Center, maintains offices throughout California, undertaking ACOEM-recommended functional capacity assessments. This comprehensive series of performance-based assessments determines an individual’s ability to work and engage in activities of daily living. To learn more, read my full article on the subject at www.getmedlegal.com/articles/articles0708/acoem.html
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Functional Capacity Assessment Provides Guidance for Injured Employees
September, 2011
By Dr. Syd Shaber Accurate Medical Assessment Rating Center
People who have been injured on the job undertake a confusing path to attain their workers’ compensation benefits. They report the injury or job-related health condition to their employers, file paperwork, visit doctors, and submit to treatment. As part of their journey, they may visit offices such as Accurate Medical Assessment Rating Center to complete functional capacity assessments.
While the name might seem intimidating, the functional capacity assessment serves an important role in the overall workers’ compensation process. Even after lengthy treatment, some injured employees fail to regain the capacity to perform their jobs. Tests such as the functional capacity assessment measure their abilities to withstand the rigors of their jobs and predict the potential risks of re-injury if they return to their normal duties. As previously noted, some workers find that they cannot go back to their original employment. In such cases, the vocational expert or physician performing the evaluation determines whether the worker must be retrained for a different career, undergo additional therapy or treatment, or step away from work and receive disability payments.
Unlike tests that measure interests, temperaments, or aptitude, functional capacity assessments gauge the physical abilities of individuals to determine whether they can perform a particular job. Functional capacity assessments sometimes include work simulations, but in general quantify balance, coordination, endurance, and other physical factors associated with certain types of work.
About the Author: A well-known expert in the field of workers’ compensation, Dr. Syd Shaber performs functional capacity assessments at Accurate Medical Assessment Rating Center. After serving in a medical unit in the Vietnam War, Dr. Shaber earned his Doctor of Podiatric Medicine at the California School of Podiatric Medicine.
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