Two Workers' Comp Study Groups Appointed in North Carolina
Buck Lattimore, chairman of North Carolina's Industrial Commission, announced on Feb. 20 his appointment of members of two working committees for the commission's Advisory Council. They are the Workers Compensation Hospital Fee Schedule Study Committee, which will investigate the adequacy of the current hospital fee schedule, and the Critical Issues Task Force, which will look initially at problems in workers' compensation medical billings and make recommendations to streamline the claims process.
The Hospital Fee Schedule panel has nine members, including representatives of the AFL-CIO, the North Carolina Home Builders Association, and the North Carolina Hospital Association. The committee's chairman is Hank Patterson of the law firm Patterson Harkavy; he is a board-certified specialist in workers' compensation law who has served as co-chair of the North Carolina Bar Association's Workers' Compensation Committee, according to the law firm's Web site.
The Critical Issues Task Force has seven members. Its chair works for The Hartford's Southeast Workers Comp Claims Center in Charlotte, according to Lattimore's order.