Pursuant to N.C.G.S. §97-31, temporary total disability benefits are available to an injured employee during the "healing period." The "healing period" has historically been described as the time during which the employee is unable to work while submitting to treatment or convalescing and when, after a course of treatment and observation, the injury is discovered to be permanent. By its very definition, the healing period might extend past the time when the employee is receiving formal medical treatment. The term maximum medical improvement is not found within the statute, but is often used by doctors to establish the point at which an employee's injury has stabilized. The conflict between maximum medical improvement and the end of the healing period has created confusion in cases where the claimant has ended formalized medical treatment, but not yet returned to work.
In a recent decision the Supreme Court found that the employee's healing period ends when he/she reaches maximum medical improvement and that is the proper time to determine the extent of the employee's permanent disability. This decision ignores both the traditional definition of "healing period" and the fact that it might extend past the end of formalized treatment. It also overlooks the reality that some claimants who will eventually return to work might be in the vocational rehabilitation process when maximum medical improvement is reached. Juanita Neal v. Carolina Management (citation omitted)
Risk Handling Hint: Risk managers are reminded to begin vocational rehabilitation or job search as soon as possible to ensure that the claimant has returned to work upon reaching maximum medical improvement.