HI SB2292

Requires the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to establish a medical treatment utilization schedule for all workers' compensation cases in Hawaii.

The schedule must incorporate the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's Occupational Medicine Practice Guidelines and be based on evidence-based medicine principles.

Treatments in the utilization schedule are presumed correct and constitute the standard of care for injured employees; physicians must follow a specified search sequence of medical sources when determining treatment.

Physicians may challenge the schedule's recommendations by providing scientific medical evidence justifying an alternative treatment, with the burden of proof on the physician to demonstrate the variance is necessary.

Aims to reduce Hawaii's high workers' compensation insurance premiums by preventing unnecessary medical procedures while ensuring consistent, high-quality care for injured workers.