Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

July/August, 1996

CE/MER Provider Training Task Team
by Nina Rabalais, Louisiana DDS

LAST FEBRUARY AND MARCH I spent three weeks in New York. I was chosen to represent NADE on one of the Redesign Task Teams. I volunteered for this team as CE/MER vendors are a big role in my job. The CE/MER Provider Training Task Team was created based on the conclusion stated in the Redesign Plan that if CE/MER sources understood the disability process/;program, they would be cooperative and supply complete and prompt reports. The group gathered information from a variety of sources, including: CE providers, MER providers Professional Relations Officers (MLOs), and other public and private disability insurance programs. The task team’s objectives were: to expedite the processing of disability determinations to provide improved customer service; to provide a better understanding of the disability program in the medical community; to improve the quality of medical evidence in disability claims; and to support the implementation of process unification in medical evidence issues.

Here are highlights of the Team’s recommendations:

*Commit sufficient resources at the local level to effectively implement an outreach, education and monitoring program. *Commit sufficient resources to the production and distribution of national CE/MER provider training manuals. *Create professionally produced media for outreach/training. *Use Internet and other electronic multimedia formats for educational outreach. *Prepare a national training package for new CE providers. This training package should be modular to maximize flexibility. *Make follow-up contact with all new CE providers within 3 months of initial training. *Use professional survey instruments to gather feedback and determine training needs. *Require CE providers to attend annual DDS-sponsored seminars. *Strengthen oversight of DDS monitoring and training of CE/MER providers. *Commence ongoing, professional outreach/educational programs to the medical community, targeted to phases of education and careers. *Explore replication of the South Dakota model DDS-medical school coordinated training. *Explore the use of MER advisory councils.

Also considered were the short-term costs involved in implementing the recommendations; but the Team believes the long term benefits will be significant.