Section 4062.3 Of Article 2. Determination Of Medical Issues From California Labor Code >> Division 4. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 7. >> Article 2.
4062.3
. (a) Any party may provide to the qualified medical
evaluator selected from a panel any of the following information:
(1) Records prepared or maintained by the employee's treating
physician or physicians.
(2) Medical and nonmedical records relevant to determination of
the medical issue.
(b) Information that a party proposes to provide to the qualified
medical evaluator selected from a panel shall be served on the
opposing party 20 days before the information is provided to the
evaluator. If the opposing party objects to consideration of
nonmedical records within 10 days thereafter, the records shall not
be provided to the evaluator. Either party may use discovery to
establish the accuracy or authenticity of nonmedical records prior to
the evaluation.
(c) If an agreed medical evaluator is selected, as part of their
agreement on an evaluator, the parties shall agree on what
information is to be provided to the agreed medical evaluator.
(d) In any formal medical evaluation, the agreed or qualified
medical evaluator shall identify the following:
(1) All information received from the parties.
(2) All information reviewed in preparation of the report.
(3) All information relied upon in the formulation of his or her
opinion.
(e) All communications with a qualified medical evaluator selected
from a panel before a medical evaluation shall be in writing and
shall be served on the opposing party 20 days in advance of the
evaluation. Any subsequent communication with the medical evaluator
shall be in writing and shall be served on the opposing party when
sent to the medical evaluator.
(f) Communications with an agreed medical evaluator shall be in
writing, and shall be served on the opposing party when sent to the
agreed medical evaluator. Oral or written communications with
physician staff or, as applicable, with the agreed medical evaluator,
relative to nonsubstantial matters such as the scheduling of
appointments, missed appointments, the furnishing of records and
reports, and the availability of the report, do not constitute ex
parte communication in violation of this section unless the appeals
board has made a specific finding of an impermissible ex parte
communication.
(g) Ex parte communication with an agreed medical evaluator or a
qualified medical evaluator selected from a panel is prohibited. If a
party communicates with the agreed medical evaluator or the
qualified medical evaluator in violation of subdivision (e), the
aggrieved party may elect to terminate the medical evaluation and
seek a new evaluation from another qualified medical evaluator to be
selected according to Section 4062.1 or 4062.2, as applicable, or
proceed with the initial evaluation.
(h) The party making the communication prohibited by this section
shall be subject to being charged with contempt before the appeals
board and shall be liable for the costs incurred by the aggrieved
party as a result of the prohibited communication, including the cost
of the medical evaluation, additional discovery costs, and attorney'
s fees for related discovery.
(i) Subdivisions (e) and (g) shall not apply to oral or written
communications by the employee or, if the employee is deceased, the
employee's dependent, in the course of the examination or at the
request of the evaluator in connection with the examination.
(j) Upon completing a determination of the disputed medical issue,
the medical evaluator shall summarize the medical findings on a form
prescribed by the administrative director and shall serve the formal
medical evaluation and the summary form on the employee and the
employer. The medical evaluation shall address all contested medical
issues arising from all injuries reported on one or more claim forms
prior to the date of the employee's initial appointment with the
medical evaluator.
(k) If, after a medical evaluation is prepared, the employer or
the employee subsequently objects to any new medical issue, the
parties, to the extent possible, shall utilize the same medical
evaluator who prepared the previous evaluation to resolve the medical
dispute.
(l) No disputed medical issue specified in subdivision (a) may be
the subject of declaration of readiness to proceed unless there has
first been an evaluation by the treating physician or an agreed or
qualified medical evaluator.