Dr. Ronald H. Kienitz, DO, is a board-certified provider of occupational and preventive medicine. Since 1986, he has served as the medical director of Concentra Medical Centers in Honolulu, Hawaii. Dr. Ronald H. Kienitz, DO, also helps corporate clients maintain effective drug-free workplace programs as a certified medical review officer. Question: What do medical review officers do? Answer: Medical review officers handle laboratory results stemming from workplace drug and alcohol tests. They maintain the integrity and transparency of such tests by ensuring the accuracy and confidentiality of results. Question: Who can be a medical review officer? Answer: Only licensed physicians may become medical review officers in the United States. However, physicians are not limited to the states where they hold medical licenses and may act as medical review officers in other states and jurisdictions. Question: How do physicians become certified medical review officers? Answer: Multiple organizations offer certification, primarily the Medical Review Officer Certification Council and the American Association of Medical Review Officers. Physicians are required to complete specialized training and pass a qualifying examination to become certified. Dr. Ronald H. Kienitz DO earned both a bachelor’s degree in zoology and a master’s degree in cardiovascular physiology before attending Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. After earning his DO in 1980, he completed his internship and a residency in orthopedic surgery at Botsford General Hospital, a large, multi-specialty facility in suburban Detroit, Michigan. Currently the medical director of Concentra Medical Centers in Honolulu, Hawaii, Dr. Ronald H. Kienitz DO also is a certified independent medical examiner.
Independent medical examiners are licensed medical and osteopathic doctors who are engaged by employers or insurance carriers to conduct independent medical examinations of patients for the purpose of resolving issues related to job performance, insurance, and workers’ compensation. They conduct their examinations for several reasons: for example, to determine the cause and extent of an injury, as well as the most appropriate treatment. Other examinations may be performed to determine if patients have received the maximum benefit possible from a course of treatment, and if any disability remains after the treatment. The physician who conducts an independent medical exam generally is not involved in the patient’s treatment, and the examination does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. Instead, the IME works for the insurance carrier or employer, and reports on issues of liability and job performance, such as whether an injury is the result of an injury sustained on the job, or when a patient may return to work. Since its establishment in 1994, the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners has certified more than 3,000 independent medical examiners. The physicians who carry ABIME certification are generally considered by employers and insurance carriers to have superior qualifications to address the needs of case and claim management. Candidates for the CIME designation must have at least 10 years’ experience in the practice of medicine, or be board-certified in some other specialty. In addition, they must complete specialized education in the field and successfully complete a four-hour written examination. In addition to subscribing to professional standards of conduct, CIMEs must recertify every five years. |
AuthorAs medical director of Concentra Medical Centers in Honolulu, Hawaii, Ronald H. Kienitz, DO, focuses on the care and prevention of workplace injuries as well as on the treatment of travelers' medical emergencies. Archives
March 2017
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