WRONG!  When is no news bad news?  Answer: When you are dealing with EAMS.  Nothing of significance has happened with EAMS since my last entry.  However, we are getting more and more rejected filings because the system wasn't designed to accomodate the realities of work injuries.  For example.  If you have a work injury that occurs at an intersection (such as a car accident) and you list the location of the injury, for example, as:  Main Street at State Street, the EAMS system will reject the filing.  Why?  Because you need to have an actual address with a street number included.  So, how do you get around this?  Simple, make one up.  Another flaw in the system is that if we file a case at the Van Nuys district office of the WCAB but the injured occured closer to the Los Angeles District office and the applicant lives closer to the Los Angeles District office then the case will be rejected.  Why you might ask?  Simple, the system will automatically select the Los Angeles District office as the correct Venue even when the applicant has selected the Van Nuys office for filing. This of course would be funny if it weren't so frustrating. 

All in all I'd have to say that the EAMS system is making everyone's life a living hell.  Even the Judges and clerks at the WCAB have told us how much they hate the EAMS system.  Let's all send out a big bronx cheer for the folks that gave us EAMS!  :{

I have received several emails asking when I might post an update to the EAMS blog entry from several months ago.  My intent was to wait until something of significance happened with the EAMS system implementation before adding another post.  However, to satisfy the curious about the state of EAMS here we go with a new blog entry:

Nothing has really changed that much.  The WCAB district offices are getting further and further behind in there ability to scan mountains of paper filings into the EAMS system.  I guess someone forgot to tell them that when you go paperless you create 3 times as much paper (which is laughable) and therefore you need to hire support staff to scan documents into the system.  Since the forms we are required to file require 3-4x more paper (remember a one page form is now 5 pages long)  you must bring in extra help to get all that paper into the paperless system.  Of course the State of California is out of money so maybe that's why they didn't hire the necessary help.

One of the major impacts of this new "paperless" system is that we are having to wait 6 months or more to get a case number assigned to a new case when we file it.  And, without a case number we can't get anything moving (i.e., get medical treatment enforced for injured workers, get benefits paid when a dispute arises etc..).  However, the kind folks at the local district office where we file our cases have been helping out with this particular problem.  If you ask nicely you can usually get a clerk at the district office to manually assign a case number so you can get your case moving.  Shout out a big thanks to all the dedicated WCAB staff who have cleverly discovered a way to circumvent the system and get things moving.

One of the major flaws in the new EAMS system is how unforgiving it is.  As an example:  Have a continuous trauma claim where the injured worker is still at work trying to stick it out and work through the pain.  We use to plead these with the words "and continuing" added to whatever date of injury it might be, for example you might have a case where the date of injury was 1/1/00 to 1/1/01 and continuing.  Sorry can't do that now.  EAMS won't accept alpha characters in this field, lol.

Also, we are getting more and more new filings rejected because of small "typo" type errors.  If the address of the insurance carrier is PO Box 213 and we put 214 the filing is rejected.  This never use to happen before EAMS.  The whole workers' comp system was suppose to allow injured workers to file their own claims (even if it were hand written on a paper napkin) and still have their case ajudicated if necessary.  I feel sorry for the injured worker who trys to handle their own case now.

I'll post a new update when more happens, but for now we are just trying to muck through as best we can.

The Electronic Adjudication Management System, also known as "EAMS" was introduced recently by the state of California's Division of Workers' Compensation.  The purpose of this system is to enable the state to move to a "paperless" system.  Good idea, right?  WRONG!

Although the idea is a good one (to go paperless) it has proved to be a virtual nightmare in more ways than one. 

First, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board has experienced a huge backlog of filings that must be scanned into the computer system.  They are unable to keep up with the filings because of the overwhelming amount of paper generated by the new system.  "Wait a minute" you say.  I thought the system was "paperless." 

Well, the answer to that question reveals the second problem with the new EAMS system.  Many forms, such as the Application for Adjudication, Declaration of Readiness and Compromise and Release were redesigned for the new system.  Each redesigned form is much, much longer than it was originally.  For example:  The declaration of readiness use to be a 1 page form.  Now, it is 3 pages long and also must include a "cover sheet" and a "seperator page" making the former 1 page form now 5 pages long!  All of the other forms are also much longer thus requiring many, many times more paper to be used.

At our office, we have been going through paper like nobody's business. They are going to have to chop down a whole forest just to make enough paper to support our little office.  And what, you might ask, does the state do with all these forms and papers they receive?  Well eventually they scan the forms into the EAMS system and then throw the paper away!  Yes, let's see how many forests will be destroyed just to help the DWC go "paperless."  It would be laughable if it weren't so sad.

There are a variety of other problems with the new EAMS system as well, but I don't have the space to go into all of it.  I will post more as the EAMS system develops.  Stay tuned.

 As expected, SB 815 the permanent disability increase bill authored by Sen. Don Perata (D-Oakland), was vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 19, 2006.  The bill, if passed would have doubled workers compensation permanent disability benefits over the next 3 years.