{"id":4926,"date":"2020-05-18T08:55:34","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T12:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/?p=4926"},"modified":"2020-05-26T13:39:26","modified_gmt":"2020-05-26T17:39:26","slug":"updates-to-the-north-carolina-work-injury-process-due-to-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/updates-to-the-north-carolina-work-injury-process-due-to-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Updates to the North Carolina Work Injury Process Due to COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic.nc.gov\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">COVID-19 healthcare crisis<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is causing a lot of changes to the way that <a href=\"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/practice-areas\/workers-compensation\/\">workers\u2019 compensation<\/a> in North Carolina are handled Some of the many changes the North Carolina Industrial Commission is making include the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b><i>Mediations conducted before June 1, 2020<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chief Justice Beasley ordered on April 2, 2020 that all mediations of workers\u2019 compensation cases in North Carolina will be conducted remotely. Alternatively, the mediations will be scheduled for a date on or after the first of June 2020. All parties must consent to a remote mediation &#8211; or the mediation will be rescheduled to the later date.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b><i>Hearing policies through May 31, 2020.<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chief Justice Beasley also announced the following changes to the workers\u2019 compensation process \u2013 in order to protect the health and public safety of North Carolina residents:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Full Commission Hearings. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oral arguments for full commission hearings will be conducted through a conference call. The parties will be given a toll-free number and an access code in order to phone into the conference. A court reporter will still continue to record the court proceeding.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Non-medical motion hearings held before a deputy commissioner. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any Deputy Commissioner hearings which would have been heard by May 31, 2020 will be rescheduled except for medical motions (under General Statute 97-25(f) or unless the parties are notified about other conditions<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Medical motions before a deputy commissioner.<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> These hearing are generally required to be heard within 30 days from the motion or appeal filing date. Instead, these hearings won\u2019t be postponed. Instead, they will be hard remotely. The parties may be excused from attending the remote hearing by the Deputy Commissioner if the parties and the Deputy Commissioner agree that:<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lay witnesses aren\u2019t needed<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The parties stipulate to the facts and the exhibits<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the case of hearings without lay witnesses, the parties should obtain the relevant expert medical testimony that is needed to resolve the issues.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Executive <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s<\/span><b>ecretary <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">h<\/span><b>earings<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. These informal telephonic hearings, conducted by the \u201cExecutive Secretary\u2019s Office will be by conference call.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b><i>COVID-19 Policy Update Regarding Electronic Signatures<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The North Carolina Industrial Commission will now accept agreements that are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Signed by one or more parties through DocuSign<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Singed by one or more to the parties through a vendor similar to DocuSign that \u201cprovides a graphic image of a signature placed on a document using secure software that verifies the identity of the user.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b><i>Requests by the NCIC to workers who work remotely<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NCIC is requesting that the lawyers (for the employees and employers) who are working remotely either advise their legal assistants when NCIC orders have been sent or provide the Executive Secretary\u2019s Office with the emails of both the lawyer and the legal assistant<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b><i>Secured Leave Policy during the COVID-10 crisis<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NCIC\u00a0will consider motions by lawyers who have to reschedule vacations, non-emergency medical procedures, and other plans \u2013 for which secure leave was already filed.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b><i>DocuSign and agreements<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 16px;\">To encourage social distancing, the NCIC is allowing employees to sign agreements through DocuSign, a legal industry standard. These agreements include:<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Compromise Settlement Agreements<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Form 26As and other Form agreements,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consent Agreements<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is one important caveat\/condition. The employee must sign through DocuSign. The lawyer for the employee cannot \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sign via DocuSign on behalf of an employee.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h3><b><i>COVID-19 Response: Industrial Commission Filing Deadline Policy<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NCIC hasn\u2019t agreed to any \u201cautomatic, blanket extension of filing deadlines for the following reasons:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Parties can take advantage of the NCIC\u2019s Electronic Document Filing Portal (\u201cEDFP\u201d) to electronically file a variety of legal documents such as forms, briefs, and proposed orders.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Industrial Commission continues to allow\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pro se<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0plaintiffs and\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pro se<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0non-insured employers to file all documents by facsimile, U.S. Mail, private courier service, or hand delivery\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAny party wishing to obtain an extension of a filing deadline for a reason related to COVID-19, or otherwise for good cause, may file a motion for an extension of time as allowed by applicable rules and statutes.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><b><i>COVID-19 Response: Telehealth Coverage and Billing<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A few <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic.nc.gov\/COVID-19%20FAQs%20from%20Health%20Care%20Providers.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q and As provided by the NCIC<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about telehealth visits include the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Are Telehealth Visits Allowed by the Industrial Commission in Workers\u2019 Compensation Cases?<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Nothing in the NCIC rules or the Workers Compensation Act disallows telehealth services<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Can Evaluation &amp; Management Telehealth Visits be Billed under the Industrial Commission\u2019s Workers\u2019 Compensation Fee Schedule?<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Yes. The same Evaluation and Management codes should be used that are used for in-person visits \u201cexcept that \u201c02\u201d should be used as the \u201cPlace of Service\u201d code.\u201d \u201cFor any services with CPT codes that do not have a specific fee schedule amount, the charges would be paid per agreement between the carrier and medical provider.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>What if a Carrier or Third-Party Administrator Refuses to Authorize a Telehealth Visit? <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If there is a dispute, the injured employee may file a medical motion with the NCIC to seek an order authorizing the telehealth visit and authorizing payment for the telehealth visit.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b><i>COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Response: Industrial Commission Mediation Policy<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEffective immediately and continuing until further notice, the Industrial Commission will liberally grant the following types of motions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Motions for an extension of time to complete a mediation to allow all mediation participants to safely appear in person at the mediation; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Motions to allow one or more parties to participate in a mediation via telephone or video conference.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b><i>IC Staff Working Remotely; Email Communication Encouraged<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NCIC is encouraging its staff to work remotely as much as possible. The NCIC is encouraging parties to contact the NCIC by email instead of by phone because many staff employees are working remotely where they can easily access their email and because, with email, employees can respond when they are ready. Also, many voicemail messages to office phones don\u2019t get forwarded to personal phones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NCIC provides a list of email addresses for staff members.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Virginia workers\u2019 compensation attorney Joe Miller Esq. has been fighting for injured workers and workers with occupational illnesses for more than 25 years. He is keeping current with the new requirements for handling cases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cases are still be being heard. So, if you can\u2019t work due to workplace conditions or a workplace accident, please phone Joe Miller, Esq., at <\/span><b><a href=\"tel:\/\/888-694-1671\" title=\"888-694-1671\">888-694-1671<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. or use my online <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/contact-us\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">contact form<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to speak with an experienced work injury lawyer.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The COVID-19 healthcare crisis is causing a lot of changes to the way that workers\u2019 compensation in North Carolina are handled Some of the many changes the North Carolina Industrial Commission is making include the following: Mediations conducted before June 1, 2020 Chief Justice Beasley ordered on April 2, 2020 that all mediations of workers\u2019 &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Updates to the North Carolina Work Injury Process Due to COVID-19\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/updates-to-the-north-carolina-work-injury-process-due-to-covid-19\/#more-4926\" aria-label=\"Read more about Updates to the North Carolina Work Injury Process Due to COVID-19\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[231,13,96,95],"tags":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Joe Miller","author_link":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/author\/jmiller\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The COVID-19 healthcare crisis is causing a lot of changes to the way that workers\u2019 compensation in North Carolina are handled Some of the many changes the North Carolina Industrial Commission is making include the following: Mediations conducted before June 1, 2020 Chief Justice Beasley ordered on April 2, 2020 that all mediations of workers\u2019&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4926"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4926\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemillerinjurylaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}