SECTION 810:15-9-1. Qualifications

(a)   The Commission shall maintain a list of private physicians to serve as independent medical examiners. The list shall be placed on the Commission's website at http://www.wcc.ok.gov.

(b)   To be eligible for appointment by the Commission to the list of qualified independent medical examiners, and for retention on the list, the physician must:

(1)   have a valid, unrestricted professional license as a physician which is not probationary;

(2)   have at least three (3) years' experience and competency in the physician's specific field of expertise and in the treatment of work-related injuries;

(3)   be knowledgeable of workers' compensation principles and the workers' compensation system in Oklahoma, as demonstrated by prior experience and attend Commission approved educational programming at least once every two (2) years, including programing in the Official Disability Guidelines if a treating physician and/or in the American Medical Association's "Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment" if a rating physician;

(4)   have in force and effect health care provider professional liability insurance from a domestic, foreign or alien insurer authorized to transact insurance in Oklahoma. The per claim and aggregate limits of the insurance must be at least One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00);

(5)   have no felony conviction under federal or state law within seven (7) years before the date of the physician's application to serve as a qualified independent medical examiner; and

(6)   have a valid Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control (BNDD) registration and federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) registration, as authorized by law for the physician's professional license.

(c)   Physicians who are serving unexpired terms as qualified independent medical examiners for the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Court on February 1, 2014 shall serve as qualified independent medical examiners for the Commission until their respective terms expire, unless voluntarily terminated by the physician or revoked by the Commission, and may reapply for successive qualification periods. The two year period in which to meet the educational requirement in 810:15-9-1(b)(3) commences with the independent medical examiner's first appointment or renewal after February 1, 2014.

[Source: Added at 31 Ok Reg 486, eff 2-4-14 (emergency); Added at 32 Ok Reg 1480, eff 8-27-15; Amended at 34 Ok Reg 2217, eff 9-11-17]