The California Department of Industrial Relations, in conjunction with the California Public Health Institute, is launching a one-year project to plan a new resource center aimed at improving the quality of medical care for injured workers in California's workers' compensation system.
The proposed California Work Injury Resource Center would be jointly operated by the department's Division of Workers' Compensation, Industrial Medical Council, and Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation.
The planning process will include a series of focus groups, a telephone survey, a literature review and a workshop.
The focus groups will be conducted with labor groups, employers, providers, judges, and insurers to explore four basic questions:
- What are their concerns about the quality of workers'compensation medical care?
- What improvements in quality of care would be most valued?
- What role do various stakeholders play in improving care?
- What kinds of external resources would be most useful in enhancing quality of improvement efforts?
The planning process will be funded by a grant from the Workers' Compensation Health Initiative, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
