Physicians Forum: Overview of Tennessee Workers’ Compensation—2015

A June 30 forum will focus on workers compensation reforms in Tennessee.

During the forum, Dr. Robert B. Snyder, medical director for the Division of Workers’ Compensation and Jeff Francis, assistant administrator in the Workers’ Compensation Division, Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, will present a seminar titled “Overview of Tennessee Workers’ Compensation—2015.”

It’s been organized by the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce and scheduled for Tuesday, June 30, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Goff Medical Sciences Building, Goff 104, at Roane State Community College at 701 Briarcliff Avenue in Oak Ridge. The forum is sponsored by Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge.

Are you aware of the changes caused by the reforms? organizers asked. They said this seminar could help you avoid some of the most common mistakes happening since the reforms.

Attendees at this presentation should expect to learn:

• The major components of the recently implemented Tennessee workers’ compensation reforms that are important for medical providers and their staffs to know and the differences from current law.
• The effective date(s) for those reforms.
• The anticipated impact these reforms on the delivery of medical care to injured workers.
• The new definition of injury and causation standard in determining work-relatedness.
• Practical tips for making Utilization Review more efficient and less time consuming.
• The make-up and structure of the new Court of Workers’ Compensation and its impact on medical providers.
• The make-up and structure of the new Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals and its impact on medical providers.

After more than 35 years in private practice, Snyder was appointed medical director for the Division of Workers’ Compensation efforts to meet the medical challenges presented by the 2013 and 2014 workers’ compensation laws:  treatment guidelines, causation, utilization review, chronic pain management, communication with providers, and education in the new regulations, a press release said.

Snyder graduated from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit and completed two years of general surgery training at the University of Pittsburgh before he came to Nashville. After completing his residency in orthopaedics and rehabilitation at Vanderbilt, he joined the practice of doctors A. Brant Lipscomb and Robert K. Johnston at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville.

A native of middle-Tennessee, Francis received his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Austin Peay State University in 1983 and his master’s degree in labor studies from the University of Massachusetts in 2000.

As a program coordinator for the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development from 2004 until April 2008, he developed and managed the Medical Impairment Rating Registry.

He is now the assistant administrator of the Workers’ Compensation Division of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. His responsibilities include the budgeting, Human Resources, Information Systems, and Claims and Coverage aspects for the Division.

Who should attend? Medical providers and their staff desiring to learn the differences from current law and recently implemented Tennessee workers’ compensation reforms.

Reserve your space for this presentation by Monday, June 29. Call the Chamber at (865) 457-2559 or email [email protected] to reserve a seat.

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