I have been reliably told that eReports were unhappy about my reference to them in a previous blog and were contemplating legal action!!
I singled out eReports because of the following letter some IMEs received from WorkSafe.
My blog was about the WorkSafe response to the ombudsman’s report and i wrote in part:
In the meantime we heard that eReports and other agents had been promised a certain number of appointments a week.
The letter from WorkSafe makes it clear that my comments were accurate and there was a quick negative response from WorkSafe.
So eReports, be fruitful and multiply off, as they say.
By the way, a colleague received notice of a cancellation of an appointment by WorkSafe the morning of the appointment
because the worker did not want to see him!
26 July 2017
Dear IME
It has come to the attention of the Victorian WorkCover Authority (WorkSafe Victoria) that eReports Pty Ltd (eReports)
has communicated with some Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) members about its relationship with WorkSafe Victoria.
WorkSafe Victoria considers that many of the statements made by eReports in this communication are incorrect, and wish to make the following clarifications:
WorkSafe Victoria is currently undertaking a holistic review of its independent medical examiner (IME) model, driven by the recommendations
made in the recent report of the Victorian Ombudsman’s investigation into the management of complex workers compensation claims and WorkSafe oversight.
The focus of the review is on improving injured worker experience. To date, WorkSafe Victoria has made no commitment to increase fees, and
will not be reviewing fees until the conclusion of the review.
WorkSafe Victoria does not endorse the services of eReports. WorkSafe has made no agreement with eReports to use their online platform.
WorkSafe Victoria’s relationship is with IMEs, who may request WorkSafe make appointments with them via eReports. While eReports
facilitates appointments with individual IMEs, there is no agreement or relationship between WorkSafe Victoria and eReports.
WorkSafe Victoria does not require IMEs to engage with eReports for the purposes of providing IME services, but IMEs
are free to engage a medico-legal company if these arrangements best suit their practice.
In an effort to efficiently and effectively manage appointments with IMEs, WorkSafe Victoria has requested
some IME psychiatrists and psychologists commit to provide WorkSafe Victoria with a dedicated number of referrals.
This will enable WorkSafe Victoria to improve injured worker outcomes by minimising the wait time for injured workers to access an IME appointment.
WorkSafe Victoria relies on its own systems and processes in place to identify appropriately qualified psychiatrists to provide IME services.
eReports does not provide any recognised services to WorkSafe Victoria in relation to the identification of suitably qualified or capable specialists.
WorkSafe Victoria is not currently recruiting for new IMEs, as is stated on our website: https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/health-professionals/independent-medical-examiners.
eReports has no involvement or connection with WorkSafe Victoria’s IME recruitment processes, and any training programs offered by eReports are not relevant to or recognised by WorkSafe Victoria’s recruitment processes.
WorkSafe Victoria has also written directly to eReports to express our concerns that they have misrepresented the nature of their relationship with WorkSafe in this correspondence. If you have any questions or concerns in relation to this matter, please contact independent_medical_examiner@worksafe.vic.gov.au
Yours sincerely
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