23-908

23-908. Injury reports by employer and
physician; schedule of fees; violation; classification

A. Every employer affected by this chapter, and every physician who attends an
injured employee of such employer, shall file with the commission and the employer's
insurance carrier from time to time a full and complete report of every known injury to
the employee arising out of or in the course of his employment and resulting in loss of
life or injury. Such report shall be furnished to the commission and such insurance
carrier at times and in the form and detail the commission prescribes, and the report
shall make special answers to all questions required by the commission under its rules.

B. The commission shall fix a schedule of fees to be charged by physicians,
physical therapists or occupational therapists attending injured employees and, subject
to subsection C of this section, for prescription medicines required to treat an injured
employee under this chapter. The commission shall annually review the schedule of fees.

C. If a schedule of fees for prescription medicines adopted pursuant to subsection
B of this section includes provisions regarding the use of generic equivalent drugs,
those provisions shall comply with section 32-1963.01, subsections A and C through K. If
the commission considers the adoption of fee schedule provisions that involve specific
prices, values or reimbursements for prescription drugs, the commission shall base the
adoption on studies or practices that are validated and accepted in the industry,
including the applicability of formulas that use average wholesale price, plus a
dispensing fee, and that have been made publicly available for at least one hundred
eighty days before any hearing conducted by the commission.

D. Notwithstanding section 12-2235, information obtained by any physician or
surgeon examining or treating an injured person shall not be considered a privileged
communication, if such information is requested by interested parties for a proper
understanding of the case and a determination of the rights involved. Hospital records
of an employee concerning an industrial claim shall not be considered privileged if
requested by an interested party in order to determine the rights involved. Medical
information from any source pertaining to conditions unrelated to the pending industrial
claim shall remain privileged.

E. When an accident occurs to an employee, the employee shall forthwith report the
accident and the injury resulting therefrom to the employer, and any physician employed
by the injured employee shall forthwith report the accident and the injury resulting
therefrom to the employer, the insurance carrier and the commission.

F. When an accident occurs to an employee, the employer may designate in writing a
physician chosen by the employer, who shall be permitted by the employee, or any person
in charge of the employee, to make one examination of the injured employee in order to
ascertain the character and extent of the injury occasioned by the accident. The
physician so chosen shall forthwith report to the employer, the insurance carrier and the
commission the character and extent of the injury as ascertained by him. If the accident
is not reported by the employee or his physician forthwith, as required, or if the
injured employee or those in charge of him refuse to permit the employer's physician to
make the examination, and the injured employee is a party to the refusal, no compensation
shall be paid for the injury claimed to have resulted from the accident. The commission
may relieve the injured person or his dependents from the loss or forfeiture of
compensation if it believes after investigation that the circumstances attending the
failure on the part of the employee or his physician to report the accident and injury
are such as to have excused them.

G. Within ten days after receiving notice of an accident, the employer shall inform
his insurance carrier and the commission on such forms and in such manner as may be
prescribed by the commission.

H. Immediately upon notice to the employer of an accident resulting in an injury to
an employee, the employer shall provide the employee with the name and address of the
employer's insurance carrier, the policy number and the expiration date.

I. Any person failing or refusing to comply with this section is guilty of a petty
offense.