January 27, 2006
Dear Workers’ Compensation
Intervenor:
The Office of Administrative
Hearings (OAH) and the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) recently met with
a group of workers’ compensation attorneys and others who represent intervenors
in workers’ compensation cases. The
purpose of the meetings was to help our two agencies identify perceived
problems with the current system and explore solutions to problems. One of the problems identified by attorneys
representing employees and insurers was difficulty identifying the correct
office to which to send a Notice of the Right to Intervene. This is particularly a problem with large
organizations with multiple office sites.
The attorney for the employee may have only the post office address used
for billing purposes by a health care provider or other potential intervenor.
To remedy this problem, we intend to
create a master list of contact information for intervenors. This list will be
posted on the agency web sites. We will
omit the small single-office health care providers to keep the list to a
manageable size. Locating the office of
smaller health care providers for the purpose of serving the Notice of Right to
Intervene is typically not a big problem.
For the convenience of the users, the list may include some small
medical offices that handle a large volume of business related to workers’
compensation cases.
To create the master intervenor
service list, we need information from you.
Please fill out the attached
workers’ compensation contact information sheet and return it to the address
listed on the form by March 1, 2006. We
anticipate that identifying the correct name, address, phone number, fax
number, and e-mail address of the intervenor will facilitate claim resolution
and payment. In addition to the basic
contact information, you may also include a website link on the master
list. This would allow you to provide a
link from our website to yours to provide any additional information you wish concerning
your workers’ compensation claims.
You are not required to provide this
information or to be included on the list posted on the agency web sites. However, we expect that posting this list
will benefit your organization because it will help parties to the workers’
compensation claim provide your organization with direct, accurate and timely
notice of the right to intervene.
This is one of a number of
strategies in the works to improve workers’ compensation dispute
resolution. Look for additional
information on the OAH web site (oah.state.mn.us) regarding workers’
compensation claims as well. The current
version of forms that can be used by intervenors are on-line at http://www.oah.state.mn.us/wcforms/forms.html.
These include the Motion to Intervene, Affidavit of Service, Stipulation of
Intervention, and a cover letter. We would appreciate you using these forms
rather than older versions. The
current version of the intervention statute and rules is also on-line.
Also being developed are questions
and answers regarding workers’ compensation claims, and a flow chart of
procedures. This information will be on
the web site as soon as it is completed.
We also anticipate that DLI and OAH will work together to provide
training on intervention to anyone who is interested. Additionally, we hope to develop a means to
view current case status to parties, including intervenors, via internet
password.
Thank you for assisting in improving
communication within the workers’ compensation dispute resolution system. Your feedback is always welcome. If you have
any questions or comments about this list, or if you have other ideas on how to
facilitate the intervention process, please contact
Sincerely,
OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE
HEARINGS DEPARTMENT OF LABOR &
INDUSTRY
WORKERS' COMPENSATION
SECTION WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
DIVISION
WILLIAM R. JOHNSON PATRICIA
J. TODD
Assistant Chief
Administrative Law Judge
Assistant Commissioner