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Finding a doctor who will treat federal workers' compensation claimants.

November 2009

In my September monthly topic I shared a letter I wrote to the Director of OWCP, Shelby Hallmark. His office replied to me, and, while the reply does not offer answers to my concerns about claimants finding doctors or about claims examiners contacting treating physicians for additional information, it does provide the following, perhaps useful, information.

Apparently, ACS, OWCP’s medical billing processing provider, maintains a list of doctors who have billed OWCP for treatment of federal workers’ compensation claimants. On the Department of Labor website, a claimant can search for those doctors, by name to see if a particular doctor treats OWCP patients or by location to find a doctor whose office already knows how to bill OWCP and thus more likely to take on a new OWCP patient. (I found searching by a zip code greatly limited the number of doctors found in the search; I suggest searching by city and state and also nearby cities and states.)

I might note that the best way to find a doctor is to have your doctor refer you to a specialist. You might talk with your doctor about doctors you’ve found on the list. However, you may still need to call the office of the doctor being considered to see if they are currently treating OWCP patients.

And there’s the rub—and the point of my letter to Mr. Hallmark in September. I’m finding that doctors are not accepting new OWCP patients and are dropping current patients because of hassles with OWCP. A list of those medical providers who have billed OWCP is one thing; actual medical providers eager to bill and deal with OWCP is another.

At any rate, being able to search for doctors familiar with OWCP is useful. The link to ACS Medical Bill Processing Portal—Provider Search is: ACS Medical Bill Processing Portal-Provider Search
Click on that page that you accept. On the next page you will be asked to select a program; select FECA. The next page will allow you to begin the search for a doctor.

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