Deputy Commissioner of Hearings Allen Craddock and his staff will continue a series of meetings with stakeholders in the Texas workers’ compensation system. Participants are invited to bring a lunch for these meetings in this Brown Bag Series.
“We want this Brown Bag Series to promote two-way communication between system participants and the hearings section,” says Craddock. “I will share ideas about the dispute resolution process and ask for input from system participants to build more sustainable systems and promote transparency in the process.”
Sessions will begin at 11 a.m. Central time for the following dates and locations:
- January 5, 2023 - Fort Worth field office
- January 6, 2023 - Dallas field office
- January 12, 2023 - Houston East field office
- January 13, 2023 - Houston West field office
- January 19, 2023 - Austin field office - for a parking pass, call Hearings at (512) 804-4010.
- January 20, 2023 - Zoom meeting – summary of findings
The agenda includes:
- Elimination of pre-hearings before medical contested case hearings.
- Move from Zoom commercial account to ZoomGov for benefit review conferences.
- New designated doctor procedures eliminating multiple certifications before a party requests dispute resolution.
- Practices and procedures regarding the use of electronic documents in proceedings.
- Practices and procedures regarding clerical errors and exhibit presentation.
- Proposals to create efficiencies in docketing proceedings to reduce continuances.
While there will be time at the end for questions about the dispute resolution process, specific cases will not be discussed.