DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DIVISION OF VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION Bureau of Rehabilitation

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONDIVISION OF VOCATIONAL
REHABILITATIONBureau of Rehabilitation
Reemployment Services

• Presentation at the
• Florida Workers Compensation Conference
• August 24, 2011

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Topics

• Changes Required by Senate Bill 2150
• Elimination of Qualified Rehabilitation Provider
  Certification
• Changes to the Reemployment Status Review and
  Report Requirement
• Changes to the Reemployment Assessment
  Requirement
• Elimination of Carrier Monitoring by the Bureau
• Changes Pertaining to Carrier Notification of
  Injured Employee of Bureau Benefits
• Changes Pertaining to Vocational Evaluations
• Budget Impact on Re-training and Other Vocational
  Services Provided by the Bureau
• Revisions to Administrative Rules
• The BRRS Web Portal
• Office Locations and Contacts

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Changes Required by Senate Bill
2150Elimination of Qualified Rehabilitation
Provider Certification
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Elimination of Qualified Rehabilitation
Provider Certification

• Providers of rehabilitation in workers
  compensation cases no longer need to be certified
  by the state or listed in a provider directory.
• The Bureau will no longer certify rehabilitation
  providers.
• The DWC-96 (Qualified Rehabilitation Provider
  Application) form is eliminated.
• There is no longer a Directory or a 25 biennial
  fee paid to the state.
• Rules to be repealed by the statutory change are
  6A-22.001(9), 6A-22.001 (10), 6A-22.001 (13),
  6A-22.001 (14), 6A-22.002, and 6A-22.0031.

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Elimination of Qualified Rehabilitation Provider
Certification

• Under the revised statute, a rehabilitation
  provider must be a Certified Rehabilitation
  Registered Nurse, a Certified Rehabilitation
  Counselor, a Certified Case Manager, a Certified
  Disability Management Specialist, a Certified
  Vocational Evaluator, or a Certified Occupational
  Health Nurse.
• The Bureau has no regulatory authority to
  determine who is or is not a rehabilitation
  provider. Neither does the Bureau have any
  regulatory authority over improper practices
  performed by rehabilitation providers who are
  hired by a carrier or an injured employee.

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Elimination of Qualified Rehabilitation Provider
Certification

• The requirement that expert testimony on
  rehabilitation in workers compensation cases can
  only be given by a qualified rehabilitation
  provider was stricken from the statute.
• The administrative rules will be revised in due
  course to remove references to qualified
  rehabilitation providers.

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• Changes Required by Senate Bill 2150
• Changes to the Reemployment Status Review and
  Report Requirement

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Changes to the Reemployment Status Review and
Report Requirement

• With some revision, reemployment status review
  reports continue to be required from the carrier
  and must still be given to the injured employee
  and the Bureau.
• Under the statutory revision, the report will
  need to include the following
• an identification of the carrier and the injured
  employee,
• the carrier claim number, and
• the Office of the Judge of Compensation Claims
  case number, if there is such a case.

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Changes to the Reemployment Status Review and
Report Requirement

• Under the statutory revisions, the Bureau does
  not have rule- making authority to mandate the
  format of the report.
• Therefore, rule 6A-22.003 is to be repealed, and
  the form DWC-22 is eliminated.
• The electronic DWC-22 has been removed from the
  Bureaus Web Portal. However, the Web Portal will
  remain capable of collecting scanned reemployment
  status review reports that are not electronic
  forms.

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• Changes Required by Senate Bill 2150
• Changes to the Reemployment Assessment
  Requirement

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Changes to the Reemployment Assessment
Requirement

• The rehabilitation provider will no longer send
  reemployment assessments to the Bureau.
• If the carrier refers a case to the Bureau, the
  carrier shall provide to the Bureau a copy of any
  reemployment assessment it possesses.

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• Changes Required by Senate Bill 2150
• Elimination of Carrier Monitoring by the Bureau

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Elimination of Carrier Monitoring by the Bureau

• The Bureau will no longer regulate carrier
  rehabilitation activities.
• The DWC-21 is automatically eliminated and has
  been removed from the Bureaus Web Portal.
• There will be no bureau policing of carrier
  rehabilitation practices and no penalties for a
  carrier not observing the statutory mandates
  regarding rehabilitation.
• The Bureau will not perform carrier audits or
  otherwise collect data from carriers, other than
  the case status review reports, reemployment
  assessments, or reemployment plans in connection
  with carrier referrals of cases to the Bureau.

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Elimination of Carrier Monitoring by the Bureau

• The programming for the web portal is a matter of
  public record. Anyone may request a copy of the
  programming as a matter of a public records
  request.
• The following rules are to be repealed by the
  statutory revisions 6A-22.010 (1), (3), (6),
  (9), (10), (11), (12), (13).

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• Changes Required by Senate Bill 2150
• Changes Pertaining to Carrier Notification of
  Injured Employee of Bureau Benefits

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Changes Pertaining to Carrier Notification of
Injured Employee of Bureau Benefits

• The rule making authority for the Bureau to
  mandate the letter sent by the carrier to the
  injured employee informing the injured employee
  of the Bureaus services is to be repealed.
• This is to repeal rule 6A-22.004.
• The carrier must still notify the injured
  employee of the availability of training and
  education benefits. The timing and format of that
  notification is left to the carriers discretion.

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• Changes Required by Senate Bill 2150
• Changes Pertaining to Vocational Evaluations

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Changes Pertaining to Vocational Evaluations

• The definition of vocational evaluation remains
  in the statute.
• That definition does not define who may do a
  vocational evaluation.
• The Bureau no longer has rule-making authority to
  define a vocational evaluation.
• The Bureau is given rulemaking authority to
  establish training and education standards
  pertaining to eligibility, course curricula and
  duration, and associated costs.
• Until this is done, the Bureau operates only
  under the definition of vocational evaluation in
  the statute.

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• Changes Required by Senate Bill 2150
• Budget Impact on Re-training and Other Vocational
  Services Provided by the Bureau

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Budget Impact on Re-training and Other Vocational
Services Provided by the Bureau

• Injured employee entitlement to re-training or
  other vocational services from the Bureau remains
  the same.
• The Bureaus Web Portal will continue to collect
  documents associated with this process.
• The Bureau will screen all cases for which a
  DWC-23 is received, and, if enough information is
  available, will perform an assessment on the case
  under the administrative rule.

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Budget Impact on Re-training and Other Vocational
Services Provided by the Bureau

• The budget for re-training, other vocational
  services, and evaluations (otherwise known as
  purchased client services) was cut by 2/3 in
  the fiscal year 2011-2012 budget.
• For Purchased Client Services, the amount
  budgeted for fiscal year 2011-2002 is 430,376.
  When compared with the amount budgeted for fiscal
  year 2010-2011 (1,513,708) there is a difference
  of -1,083,332.
• Funds for the fiscal year 2010-2011 budget have
  been (or are expected to be) fully expended,
  which means that there will need to be absolute
  cut backs in purchased client services of 2/3 in
  the coming fiscal year.

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Budget Impact on Re-training and Other Vocational
Services Provided by the Bureau

• The Bureau will provide re-training, other
  vocational services, and evaluations in the
  coming fiscal year, as possible.
• When funding is not available, the Bureau will
  refer cases to other appropriate agencies for the
  provision of services.

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• Changes Required by Senate Bill 2150
• Revisions to Administrative Rules

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Revisions to Administrative Rules

• The Bureau will first do a rule revision to make
  the administrative rules conform to the revised
  statute and repeal rules as required.
• After that is done, the Bureau will look at
  further rule revisions necessary to otherwise
  operate under the revised statute and budget.

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• The BRRS Web Portal

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The BRRS Web Portal

• The BRRS Web Portal is a Web site that enables
  insurance carriers, third party administrators,
  and rehabilitation providers to electronically
  refer injured workers to the Bureau with Form
  DWC-23 and/or upload reemployment assessments,
  reemployment status reviews, and case documents.
• The website address is https//wc-returntowork-vr.
  doe.state.fl.us/brrs/login.aspx

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The BRRS Web Portal

• Upon first accessing the website, the log-on
  screen appears

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The BRRS Web Portal

• On the log-on screen, the user may
• Log onto the system with the assigned UserID and
  Password.
• Request a new User Account.
• Find out a forgotten password.
• Access the Change Log.
• Access the Web Portal Users Manual
• Access the DWC Carrier/TPA Database Web site.
• Find out contact information for user support
  issues.

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The BRRS Web Portal

• After the user logs on, the BRRS Web Portal Main
  Menu appears

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The BRRS Web Portal

• From the Main Menu, the user may access the
• Injured Employee Referrals Module
• This module enables various parties (insurance
  carriers, rehabilitation providers, attorneys,
  etc.) to refer injured workers to BRRS for
  services.
• The system automatically generates a Form DWC-23,
  Request for Screening, and sends an e-mail to the
  appropriate BRRS office.

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The BRRS Web Portal

• The user may
• Create Injured Employee Referral (create a new
  referral)
• Search for Existing Referrals (find referrals
  already submitted by the user)
• Edit My Companys Carrier/TPA List (edit the
  users list of carriers/TPAs in the database)

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The BRRS Web Portal

• From the Main Menu, the user may also access the
• Document Upload Module
• Registered Web Portal users can upload
  reemployment assessments, reemployment status
  reviews, and any case-related document
  (evaluation reports, medical reports, legal
  documents, etc.) of an injured worker via this
  module.
• The system will notify the BRRS case manager of
  the uploaded case document.

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The BRRS Web Portal
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The BRRS Web Portal

• Users may upload ARAMIS Case Documents.

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The BRRS Web Portal

• Users may upload Reemployment Assessments.

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The BRRS Web Portal

• Users may upload Reemployment Status Review
  Reports.

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The BRRS Web Portal

• On the User Account Maintenance Module, the user
  may change his/her e-mail address or password.

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The BRRS Web Portal

• Finally, the user may request that a user
  account be removed or disabled in the
  Remove/Disable a User Account Module.
• The user must be a customer administrator in our
  database in order to make the request.

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The BRRS Web Portal

• Web Portal Privacy
•  
• Only registered Web Portal users may use the
  system, and all documents are secure.
•  

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Office Locations and Contacts
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Office Locations

• The BRRS consists of 3 Areas
• Area 1 Offices
• Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Gainesville, Panama
  City, and Pensacola
• Area 2 Offices
• Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota
• Area 3 Offices
• Ft Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Miami

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Area 1 Office Locations and Contacts

• Tallahassee Office
• 325 W. Gaines Street, Ste 1724 Tallahassee, FL
  32399 [phone] e-mail Mary.Cilek_at_vr.fldoe
  .org Counties Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon,
  Madison, Taylor, and Wakulla
• Panama City Office 2686 Chapman Drive Panama
  City, FL 32405 [phone] e-mail
  Avia.Burris_at_vr.fldoe.org Counties Bay,
  Calhoun, Franklin, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson,
  Liberty, and Washington

• Pensacola Office 3670A North L Street, 1st Floor
  Pensacola, FL 32505-5217 [phone]
  e-mail Carolyn.Knight_at_vr.fldoe.org Counties
  Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Walton

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Area 1 Office Locations and Contacts (cont.)

• Jacksonville Office 215 Market Street, Suite 380
  Jacksonville, FL 32202 [phone] e-mail
  Irene.Carter_at_vr.fldoe.org Counties Baker,
  Clay, Duval, Lafayette, Nassau, St. Johns, and
  Union

• Gainesville Office 2610 NW 43rd St., Suite 1A
  Gainesville, FL 32606 [phone] e-mail
  Joseph.McCloud_at_vr.fldoe.org Counties Alachua,
  Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton,
  Levy, Marion, Putnam, and Suwannee

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Area 2 Office Locations and Contacts

• Orlando Office 400 West Robinson Street, Suite
  725 Orlando, FL 32801 [phone] e-mail
  Sandra Ondrus_at_vr.fldoe.org Counties Brevard,
  Flagler, Indian River, Lake, Orange, Osceola,
  Polk, Seminole, and Volusia
• Tampa Office 9215 N. Florida Avenue, Suite 104
  Tampa, FL 33612 [phone] e-mail
  Beatrice Serna_at_vr.fldoe.org Counties Citrus,
  Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, and
  Sumter

• Sarasota Office 1991 Main Street, Suite 115
  Sarasota, FL 34236 [phone] e-mail Paul
  Seguin_at_vr.fldoe.org Counties Desoto, Hardee,
  Highlands, Manatee, and Sarasota

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Area 3 Office Locations and Contacts

• Ft. Myers Office 5264 Summerlin Commons Way, Ste
  404 Fort Myers, FL 33907 [phone], Ext.
  237 e-mail Shirley Williams Counties
  Charlotte, Collier, Hendry, Lee, and West Glades
• Ft. Lauderdale Office 1400 West Commercial
  Blvd., Suite 1 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 (954)
  202-3875 e-mail Beverly Halle County Broward,
  East Glades, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, and
  St. Lucie

• Miami Office 401 NW Second Avenue, Suite 321
  Miami, FL 33128 [phone] e-mail Ava
  Gardner Counties Dade and Monroe

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Office Locations and Contacts

• Go to the BRRS web site (www.rehabworks.org/brrs)
  to obtain information about the Injured Worker
  Program, including
• Brochures
• Injured Employee Orientation
• Rehabilitation Provider Qualifications
• BRRS Ombudsman
• BRRS Web Portal
• References and Forms
• Resource Links

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Contacts

• Reginald Watkins [phone]
  reginald.watkins_at_vr.fldoe.org
• Cheryl Farner [phone] cheryl.farner_at_vr.fld
  oe.org
• Mary Cilek [phone] mary.cilek_at_vr.fldoe
  .org
• Sandra Ondrus [phone] x102
  sandra.ondrus_at_vr.fldoe.org
• Angel Miranda [phone] x4012
  cheryl.farner_at_vr.fldoe.org

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• Thank you for attending the BRRS presentation at
  the 2011 Workers Compensation Educational
  Conference.
• Please complete the survey in your packet and
  give it to a presenter as you leave.