Beliefs About and Use of Occupational Medicine Practice Guidelines by Case Managers and Insurance Adjusters

Workers' compensation case managers and adjusters have increased their use of practice guidelines recently, partly in response to state regulations. However, informally reported rates of use are not as high as desired for the best managed care practices and the greatest reductions in lost work time. Although there are several studies of physicians' use of guidelines, there are few if any studies about case managers' and adjusters' beliefs about, and utilization of, either general medical or occupational medical practice guidelines. Information about attitudes, beliefs about practice guidelines, and actual use should help developers make the guidelines more usable and bring about more effective interaction among case managers, adjusters, treating physicians, and other health professionals. This article reports on pre- and post-training surveys of a cohort of case managers and adjusters who participated in a case-based guideline training course. It then compares their responses to those of the physicians whose cases they might manage.