Performing Psychological Evaluations on Injured Workers for the Industrial Commission
Industrial Commission Permanent Total Disability & Independent Medical Examination Workshop

Registration has now closed. Contact Joan Bowman for possible onsite registration spots.

When: Saturday, March 16 | 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. | 4 CE
Where: Quest Conference Center, 8405 Pulsar Place, Columbus, OH 43240
Presenters: Thomas S. Conner, JD, Ohio Industrial Commission Director of Hearing Services
John Malinky, PhD
Wanda Mullins, RN, MSA, Ohio Industrial Commission Director of Medical Services
Joel Steinberg, MD, Industrial Comission Medical Advisor
Terrence B. Welsh, MD, Ohio Industrial Commission Chief Medical Advisor

Description: This workshop will utilize lecture, question and answer and an open discussion format to assist mental health professionals gain a greater awareness of requirements and expectations for Industrial Commission impairment evaluations.

Participants will learn how to:

• Identify how to negotiate medical-legal concerns during impairment evaluations in order to better provide medically competent and legally sufficient  evidence for hearings.
• Understand the “life” of an IC PTD claim, and other administrative processes to gain a broader base of knowledge of the impairment evaluation process.
• Understand how to provide an effective mental & behavioral health impairment evaluation in accordance with processes outlined in the AMA Guides 2nd & 5th Editions and the Industrial Commission Medical Examination Manual.
• Understand resources available to help mental health professionals prepare effective evaluations.
• Understand those components of the Industrial Commission impairment evaluation that provide the greatest challenges to mental & behavioral specialist.

About the Speakers:

Thomas Conner was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He received his law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Tom began his legal career working with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, where he provided legal advice to the Administrator/CEO until 1993. He then worked in private practice until December of 1994, when he accepted the position as Director of Hearing Services for the Industrial Commission of Ohio. Since his arrival at the IC, Tom championed the implementation of the Workflow and ECM applications, which have made paperless hearings possible. Tom continues efforts to improve ICON, the automated hearing process, and revamp hearing officer training.

Dr. John Malinky has practiced psychology for 31 years. Hew was a staff psychologist at Columbus Area Community Mental Health Center, United Behavioral Health and Harding Hospital providing him a knowledge base in both private an insurance driven care settings. He served as an In House Consultant for the Bureau of Disability Determination for 20 years. Dr. Malinky is currently in private practice. He also does psychological evaluations for the Industrial Commission of Ohio, Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation and for private attorneys. He is experienced at court ordered evaluation of Not Guilty By Reason of Insaity and Competency to Stand Trial evaluations.

Wanda Mullins received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mount Carmel College of Nursing and her Master’s of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University.

Wanda worked for Joint Implant Surgeons, a busy orthopedic office performing a variety of duties ranging from pre-admission testing, patient education, disability evaluations and paperwork, surgery scheduling, prior authorization, post operative care, assisting with medical procedures, telephone triage and after hours call rotation. She also worked as a case manager on the orthopedics/medsurg floors for Grant Medical Center, and a telephonic nurse for Permedion prior authorizing home health services for the State of Kentucky Medicaid Program.

Wanda has worked for the State of Ohio for approximately ten years, starting at the Industrial Commission as Quality Assurance Coordinator, then at ODJFS Bureau of Ohio Health Plans as Disability Determination Manager and Quality Assurance Operations Manager.

She currently serves as Deputy Director of Medical Services for the Ohio Industrial Commission (OIC), responsible for centralized and decentralized administrative functions that support the OIC medical programs pertaining to Permanent Total Disability (PTD).

Wanda’s goals for Medical Services are to assist the Commission in development of new policies and procedures that will improve the timely processing of PTD applications, evenly distribute IME examinations, gain examiners access to electronic medical records, and provide feedback to specialist examiners regarding reports to maintain medically competent and legally sufficient reports for PTD hearings.

Dr. Steinberg was born in Miami. (No, not Ohio, Florida.) After finishing high school there he went to the University of Florida for his Bachelor’s Degree and then on to Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta for his M.D. Over the next four years he completed his training in internal medicine. He then joined the faculty at Emory and eventually ran the outpatient department at Grady Memorial Hospital, the large hospital for indigents. Typically there were 90-100,000 visits to the emergency room per year and perhaps another 500,000 visits to various other clinics. After five years in the Department of medicine, he moved to Cleveland and trained in psychiatry at University Hospitals over the next three years.

After completing his training in psychiatry, he ran the mental health program for the City of Cleveland for 2+ years and opened a part-time private practice devoted to psychiatry, primarily. The focus during that time was heavily on drug abuse problems and providing health and mental health care to low income families and to people confined to the prison for people convicted of misdemeanors. He had an appointment during the Carter administration to the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention. Three years later, along with a colleague, he opened the first medical psychiatry program in the country. Along the way he became interested in impairments and disability. He worked first with the Social Security Administration helping hearing officers understand medical records. Later he devoted more of his time to workers compensation issues.

More recently, he became certified as a forensic psychiatrist. For the past decade or more he has been the medical advisor to the Police and Fire Pension Fund Disability Evaluating Panel as well as a member of the panel. In the past, he has been a mental health consultant to the Chief Medical Officer of the Industrial Commission, as well.

Dr. Terrance Welsh is a graduate of Fisher Catholic High School in Lancaster, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in philosophy from Marquette University, and then attended medical school at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

Dr. Welsh’s residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation was completed at Beaumont Health System in the greater Detroit area. He has earned board certification by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Board of Neurophysiologic and Electrodiagnostic Medicine, the American Board of Pain Medicine and the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners.

In 1991, Dr. Welsh began in full-time practice in Portsmouth, Ohio. He was the founding physician for the Southern Ohio Medical Center (SOMC) Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit, and continues as Medical Director of Outpatient Rehabilitation. He has served as Chief of Staff at SOMC, and Chair of the Credentials Committee. He serves as a physician representative to the SOMC Board Quality Committee. Dr. Welsh is Chief Medical Advisor to the Ohio Industrial Commission. He volunteers time as team physician for Notre Dame Schools.