Audiologists to Become QMEs
Let’s say you want to get a qualified medical evaluator to take a look at the applicant’s hearing and determine if there is any basis for apportionment or to argue AOE/COE. It’s simple, you would just request a panel in with the specialty of audiology, right? What’s that you say? There’s no such specialty… not even at the QME database on the Medical Unit’s website?
Well, it looks like there may be a change to that soon enough. Assembly Bill 1454, introduced by Assembly Member Solorio (D-69th District), unanimously passed through the Committee on Insurance on March 28, 2012 and is on its way back to the Committee on Appropriations.
Some of my readers may recall that Assemblyman Solorio has been mentioned on this blog before, having exerted his influenced in an effort to see the temporary disability cap raised to 240 weeks.
We’ll have to keep our collective eyes on this one – before we know it, we may be fighting off prescriptions for blue-tooth devices and trying to figure out if the new crop of audiologists has an applicant bias.
Audiologists are not M.D.s , Otolaryngology is the medical specialty that evaluates hearing loss.
This is true, but if Mr. Solorio has his way, applicants will continue avoiding orthopedists and going to chiropractors, and will likewise go to audiologists and avoid real M.D.s