States and Workers' Compensation - No to ACOEM

States are increasingly looking to implement workers' compensation treatment guidelines as a means to control costs and create more predictable standards of care for injured workers. 

However, they must be based on the expertise of physicians knowledgeable in specific injuries and conditions and fairly weigh the available evidence.

NTAC and its coalition partners strongly oppose adoption of treatment guidelines by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) by state workers' compensation programs because they unreasonably limit care and hurt patient access to needed therapies.  If implemented by state workers' compensation programs, ACOEM lower back and chronic pain guidelines dramatically limit access to interventional pain procedures, including spinal cord stimulation (SCS) and intrathecal drug delivery (IDD).

Download NTAC's ACOEM position statement

Download Talking Points on ACOEM guideline

Download sample payer appeal letter

Call to Action - Proposed New York Workers' Compensation Guidelines

For the past two years, NTAC and its coalition partners have been working to ensure that proposed lower back treatment guidelines in New York State, which borrow heavily from ACOEM's guidelines, are amended before they are issued. We are now at a critical stage in our efforts.

Download Talking Points on New York Low Back Guidelines

Download NYSSA and NYSIPP Comments to the Workers' Compensation Board