Important Notice relating to the victorian workcover authority's health management speicalists and your rights as an injured worker

 The Victorian WorkCover Authority (VWA) has adopted an aggressive approach toward injured workers' and their work related injury.

The use of HEALTH MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS (HMS) is prompted as providing assistance to treating health professionals with complex or unresolved medical treatments.

In practice HMS's are utilised to acquire information which is not readily available to agents of the VWA (Employer insurance organisations), and this information is then used to deny injured workers' benefits under the Accident Compensation Act 1985.

A number of CPSU members have reported that their treating medical/health professionals have been placed under pressure by Work cover's HMS's to alter their opinion that offers of employment are not suitable, or to agree to, or limit, treatment regimes.

ADVICE TO INJURED WORKERS:

 This notice provides advice for injured workers and their treating medical/health professionals that are providing treatment to injured workers' under the Accident compensation Act 1985 if approached to provide information on medical treatment, incapacity, return to work or any other information relating to the injured wokrers injury status.

It should be noted that although an injured worker signs an "Authorisation to Release Medical Information" when completing a WorkCover Claim Form, this authorisation does not bind nor place an obligation on a treating medical/health professional to provide information, and is up to that treating medical/health professional as to the information provided.

• Workers should nto provide their treating medical/health professional with authorisation for a HMS  to discuss any matter regarding their injury with that treating professional.
• Workers should advice the treating medical/health professionals not to complete any "Medical Practitioner Questionnaire Form" from agents of the Authority regarding their injury.
• Workers should not complete any "Worker Questionnaire Form" from agents of the Authority regarding their injury.
• Workers should advise their treating medical/health professionals not to provide information to a HMS on offers of suitable employment.
• Treating medical/health professionals should be made aware that the WorkCover Worker Claim Form authorisation only requires that information regarding a service provided be provided to the VWA or their agent.

Geoff Lewin
CPSU/SPSF WorkCover Service Officer