Workers’ compensation laws are complicated, we get it! Do you sometimes wonder what mythical cipher was used to create the secret code used in claims communications? Acronyms and terminology for workers’ compensation claims vary depending on the nature of injury and the progression of the claim.
Frequently used terms are commonly abbreviated and can easily make simple communications look like secret languages.
Alphabet Soup
Here are a few common abbreviations that will have you deciphering claims communications like Nicholas Cage in National Treasure in no time.
ADW –Average Daily Wage is a computation of an injured employee’s average daily earnings.
AWW –Average Weekly Wage is a computation of an injured employee’s average weekly earnings. AWW or ADW are used to determine entitlement to lost wage benefits.
DOI – Date of Injury
FD – Full Duty
FROI –First Report of Injury
IE – Injured Employee
IME –Independent Medical Examination is the assessment of an employee’s condition by an independent physician.
IR –Impairment Rating is a medical assessment of a workers’ physical condition represented as a percentage.
LD – Light Duty
MMI –Maximum Medical Improvement means a worker’s condition has improved as much as it’s going to with treatment.
PPD –Permanent Partial Disability means a worker has a permanent impairment, but can still work in some capacity.
PTD –Permanent Total Disability means a worker is permanently and totally disabled from work following an injury.
PT –Physical Therapy is the treatment of physical injury using therapeutic exercise.
RTW –Return to Work
TPD –Temporary Partial Disability means an injured employee is able to perform light duty or modified work while recovering.
TTD –Temporary Total Disability means an injured employee is unable to work while recovering.
Now the next time your employee hands you a doctor’s note that says “MMI with IME IR 0%. RTW FD” you can say with confidence “Get to work!”
If you’d rather leave the deciphering to someone else, give Spirit HR a call and find out what other employment mysteries our services can solve.