NWCDN Members regularly post articles and summary judgements in workers’ compensations law in your state.
Select a state from the dropdown menu below to scroll through the state specific archives for updates and opinions on various workers’ compensation laws in your state.
Contact information for NWCDN members is also located on the state specific links in the event you have additional questions or your company is seeking a workers’ compensation lawyer in your state.
We occasionally field questions about “EFA.” This is a product that is being heavily marketed to Carriers, so we thought we’d address the procedure inThe Compendium.
EFA (Electrodiagnostic Functional Assessment) is basically a surface (not needle) EMG done pre-employment and post-injury. The stated goal of EFA is to age injuries and provide a potential defense to injury or aggravation claims.
One vendor who aggressively markets this service claims that its technology is noted in ODG (the Division’s official treatment guideline)– the implication being that the ODG in some way endorses it. However, EFA is not recommended by the ODG. In fact, the ODG states, “surface electromyography, the primary technology used by this device, is not recommended for the diagnosis of neuromuscular disorders.” Therefore, any claims made based on test results from the device could be very easily discredited. Now you know.
As a substitute for “EFA”, the carrier or insured would be better-served by investing time and resources into clarifying a claimant’s diagnoses early on in a claim, before the horse is out of the barn and galloping away. For example, in a motor vehicle accident, the adjuster should obtain crash photos, Texas Peace Officer’s crash reports, and ER notes, and conduct a full interview of the claimant immediately after the accident. This strategy for claims management is well-known, economical, and time-proven. --Erin Shanley, Stone Loughlin & Swanson, LLP