Once again, the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation (TX DWC) demonstrates its commitment to proactively easing the burden on healthcare providers who treat (and examine) injured workers.

The agency released narrative report templates custom-designed for Designated Doctors, who address questions about injured workers’ medical conditions and help resolve disputes regarding work-related injuries.

The templates help Designated Doctors furnish the required narrative reports in alignment with Texas workers’ comp rules. They include all the information necessary for reports to meet state requirements for precise documentation of Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI), Impairment Rating (IR), Extent of Injury (EOI), and more.

By consistently finding new ways to ease friction and offer providers guidance through complex laws and regulations, the TX DWC is making the workers’ comp system work better for all stakeholders.

Details and links for the report templates are below.

TX Designated Doctor Narrative Report Templates

To help ensure Designated Doctor reports meet state standards, the TX DWC created templates that “provide a standardized approach to organizing the narrative.” The general template (shown above) includes information that all Designated Doctor reports must include; the TX DWC offers additional templates for:

• MMI
• IR
• EOI
• Disability
• Return to Work (RTW)
• RTW Supplemental Income Benefits
• Other issues

The TX DWC “strongly encourages” (but does not legally require) Designated Doctors to use these templates.

Designated Doctors can download the templates here, and watch a brief presentation from the TX DWC on how to utilize them here.

Under Texas Labor Code Chapter 408, the TX DWC enlists Designated Doctors to conduct exams and furnish reports that carry “presumptive weight” regarding a workplace injury. An injured worker or their attorney, an insurance carrier, or the TX DWC can request a Designated Doctor exam, but only the TX DWC may determine if one is warranted.

Designated Doctor reports are the state’s official word on a worker's condition and the work-relatedness of an injury, so it is critical to make them as airtight as possible.

In every state, workers’ comp is complex and subject to layers of regulatory and bureaucratic requirements. The TX DWC consistently makes the effort to help shepherd providers through the maze and remove as many headaches as possible.

Make no mistake: Texas employers and injured workers benefit from this commitment to provider support. Keep it up, TX DWC!

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