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Workers' CompensationG. Time Loss AuthorizationPrepared by members of Oregon Workers' Compensation Attorneys Basic Rule: Time loss is only payable for periods authorized by the attending physician. 42. What is "time loss"? Time loss means either: a. Temporary Total Disability (TTD), i.e., worker is unable to work at all, or b. Temporary Partial Disability (TPD), i.e., worker is released for work with certain restrictions. 43. What does "authorized" mean? Authorized means the worker's doctor certified the worker's inability to work. The doctor must verify this in writing to the insurance company's claim adjuster and advise the worker. 44. Who is an "attending physician"? The attending physician is the doctor who is primarily responsible for the worker's treatment: a. A medical doctor, a doctor of osteopathy, or an oral and maxillofacial surgeon licensed in Oregon or another state or country; or b. A chiropractor, but only for the first 30 days from the date of the first visit on the initial claim (not aggravation claims), or 12 visits, whichever occurs first. 45. Why does the doctor have to authorize time loss when the worker is treated for the first time immediately after a disabling injury? Time loss is no longer automatically due upon the worker's absence from work after the date of injury. If the doctor does not authorize time loss payments and the patient cannot return to work, the patient will not receive time loss payments. 46. What happens if the insurer requests from the attending doctor verification of the worker's inability to work, and the doctor does not verify it? The worker receives no time loss and the doctor's medical services are not paid until the doctor submits the verification. 47. What is the limit for retroactive authorization of time loss? A doctor may retroactively authorize time loss for no more than 14 days prior to the date authorization issues. 48. After a doctor authorizes time loss, how long must the insurer continue paying time loss to the worker? Time loss is only payable for specific time periods authorized by a physician. 49. Can a doctor authorize time loss into the future? Yes. The doctor can either authorize time loss "until further notice," and change the worker's time loss status as needed at future appointments, or the doctor can authorize time loss through a date certain which is on or after the worker's next appointment. 50. What happens if a doctor authorizes time loss for two weeks and does not see the worker until five weeks later? The worker loses at least one week of time loss and probably loses three. Because the worker cannot go back to work (without the doctor's release), the worker also loses any possibility of earning money. Return to Answers to Medical Questions Front Page Collection: Rates, Bills, Settlements | Aggravation | Communication with Attorneys, Insurers and Patients | Notices for Return to Work and Modified or Light Duty | Report Writing, Magic Words; Standards for Injury, Aggravation and Occupational Disease | Treatment after Claim Closure and in Aggravation Situations | Time Loss Authorization Last update: June 1, 2001
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