Calculators

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Feb
10
2009
2005 PDRS, AMA Guides, Calculators, Free, Ogilvie, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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A modern hacker #1
A modern hacker #1

I launched the Ogilvie DFEC Rebuttal Calculator on Saturday morning to a select group of beta-testers. 1 When I upgraded a person’s access to the website they had no problem seeing the workers’ compensation calculator.

Unfortunately, not one of them was able to actually use the thing.  Last night my wife suggests the problem might be, “maybe they are using a different version or its not refreshed or something”?

And you know what?  She was right.  My wife, the hacker.2

I’ve written several protections into these calculators to insulate my users from having to deal with problems or bugs from newly installed code.  I would much rather a user sees nothing than get a wrong answer.  And nothing is exactly what my users saw.  I had remembered to allow my beta testers to see the Ogilvie DFEC Rebuttal Calculator – but forgot to give them access to calculator.

So, the beta-test period will continue for another day or two while I await feedback from my users.

If you’d like to see what the Ogilvie DFEC Rebuttal Calculator looks like or want to try to use it, just sign up for free and shoot me an e-mail asking for access.

  1. By “select group” I mean anyone who asked me if they could help. [↩]
  2. Photo courtesy of gutter. [↩]
Feb
9
2009
2005 PDRS, AMA Guides, Calculators, Free, Ogilvie, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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How to build a calculator: Its like smashing a calculator - only in reverse
How to build a calculator: It's like smashing a calculator - only in reverse

I’m going to delay the launch of the Ogilvie DFEC rebuttal calculator for a day or two. 1  I believe it works just fine, but I would like to test it a little more.  This said, I will grant anyone who is interested access to this calculator.

Why the delay?  Well…

The interesting thing about taking apart a set of calculations is that you find all sorts of “hidden steps” to the calculation.  The majority in Ogilvie does a respectible job of going through the steps of this new formula and even gives several examples.

When performing most calculations one will need to round numbers at some point.  However, rounding almost invariably takes place at the very end.  In the case of the Ogilvie calculations, it appears that the WCAB rounds various figures throughout the calculation.

Even though the DFEC rebuttal calculator was giving correct answers, the fourth or fifth decimal places on some intermediary figures occasionally did not coming out right.  It took me a little while to track down all the spots where the WCAB was implicitly rounding their figures (and to what decimal place!).

I am fairly confident the calculator will work without a hitch, but I’m going to test it a little more before I make it available to the public.  If you’re interested in testing this Ogilvie DFEC rebuttal calculator, please drop me a line and let me know.

If you’re not a registered user for this website, its free to sign up and free to use all the workers’ compensation calculators.  Seriously, free as in free!

  1. Photo courtesy of mhuang [↩]
Feb
7
2009
2005 PDRS, AMA Guides, Calculators, Downloads, Free, Ogilvie, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Professor, tell me more of this DFEC rebuttal calculator...
Professor, tell me more of this DFEC rebuttal calculator...

Earlier today I installed an Ogilvie v. City and County of SF DFEC Rebuttal calculator into the free workers’ compensation calculators page on this website. 123 For the moment it is only available to people who have signed up for this website and asked to be a beta tester.  If all goes well, I’ll flip a switch and make it available to the public on Monday morning.

At the moment it requires four pieces of information:

  1. FEC Rank (re: body part in question)
  2. Standard disability (re: body part in question)
  3. Post-injury earnings for Applicant
  4. Post-injury earnings for employees similarly situated to Applicant

Once you add in that information, click “Calculate” and it should crunch through the formula and give you a response.  The WCAB in Ogilvie suggested several possible outcomes to this formula:

  • The “Individualized Loss Ratio” for the injured worker is the same or within the range for the current FEC Rank for the affected body part.  In this circumstance, the 2005 DFEC has not been rebutted.
  • The “Individualized Loss Ratio” for the injured worker is within the range of one of the other seven FEC Ranks.  Here, the DFEC portion of the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule might be rebutted.
  • The “Individualized Loss Ratio” for the injured worker is outside the range of all eight FEC Ranks.  In this circumstance, you could end up with a new FEC Adjustment Factor much higher or lower than any FEC Adjustment Factor associated with the eight FEC Ranks.  Here, the DFEC portion of the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule might be rebutted.

Obviously, there are innumerable factors that go into considerations of whether a Judge (or the WCAB) would find the DFEC portion of the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule to be rebutted.  This calculation and the information relied upon in performing this calculation cannot be taken as a guarranteed method of rebutting the DFEC portion of the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule.

If you’re not a registered user for this website, its free to sign up and free to use all the workers’ compensation calculators.  That’s right: free as in free.

  1. Photo courtesy of Draggin [↩]
  2. I had this EXACT same calculator as a kid! [↩]
  3. Why, how did you spend your Friday night? [↩]
Feb
6
2009
1997 PDRS, 2005 PDRS, AMA Guides, Calculators, Free, Ogilvie, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Need help with a workers compensation calculator?
Need help with a workers' compensation calculator?

I put out the call for help testing my Ogilvie DFEC rebuttal calculator and got a bite! 1 I wrote it two days ago and refined it a little bit last night.2

If anyone else is interested in helping test this Ogilvie DFEC rebuttal calculator, please drop me a line and let me know.

The ideal tester is someone who:

  1. Has read Ogilvie and understands how to do the Ogilvie DFEC rebuttal calculations
  2. Is willing to use the Ogilvie DFEC rebuttal calculator this weekend
  3. Is willing to e-mail me with feedback this weekend so I can launch it on Monday to the public

If you’re not a registered user for this website, its free to sign up and free to use all the workers’ compensation calculators.

You heard me, free as in free.

  1. Photo courtesy of Joy of the Mundane. [↩]
  2. Because I’m a total workers’ compensation nerd. [↩]
Feb
5
2009
Calculators, Case Law, Downloads, Free, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Whats the WCAB doing NOW???
What's the WCAB doing NOW???

UPDATE 9/3/2009:  Download the new en banc Ogilvie II and Almaraz/Guzman II decisions here!

Need a FREE sample Ogilvie analysis brief complete with citations?

Some crazy stuff has happened in the last two days.  1 Two big en banc decisions were just handed down from the WCAB. Here they are, hot off the presses and ready for downloading:

Of the two cases, I enjoyed Ogilvie v. City and County of San Francisco much more.  This case describes to what extent the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule may be rebutted2 and how one might go about doing this.

Pages 22 through 32 are basically nothing but math. 3  These pages detail the information and methodology necessary to rebut the DFEC portion of the 2005 Schedule.

Last night I wrote a prototype calculator which will allow you to determine whether you may or may not be able to rebut the DFEC portion of the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule.  This calculator would only perform the DFEC rebuttal calculations suggested in the majority opinion, since this is now the law of the land.  My plan is to test it this weekend and launch it Monday.

However, if anyone is interested in helping me test it, I would appreciate the help.  Just drop me a line and I’ll give you the link as soon as its ready.

In the meantime, if you want to crunch the numbers yourself (or follow along with the WCAB in Ogilvie), you will probably find Table A and Table B page 1-7 of the 2005 PDRS to be very helpful.

FYI, there are a lot of “footnotes” in Ogilvie that reference various online documents or websites.  I’ve downloaded a copy or provided a screenshot of each of these pages for your reference:

  1. Photo courtesy of Kyle Kesselring [↩]
  2. Basically just the DFEC portion. [↩]
  3. Yay! [↩]
Jan
14
2009
1997 PDRS, Calculators, Free, Multiple Disabilities Table, PDRater, Workers Compensation Resources

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Multiple Disabilities Table
Multiple Disabilities Table, easy, no?

Right after “workers’ compensation calculator” and “permanent disability calculator,” the top search term for people coming to this website is “multiple disabilities table.”

If you want to combine multiple disabilities for injuries before 2005,1 you can:

  1. After 2005, you may need to use the Combined Values Chart from the 2005 PDRS. [↩]
  2. FYI: The multiple disabilities chart in the rating schedules gives you disability increments of 5% points. [↩]
  3. The chart on the right is from the 1988 PDRS [↩]
Nov
20
2008
2005 PDRS, Calculators, PDRater, Subscription Features, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Calculator Performance Issue: It has come to my attention that some users are having problems with the “Body Part” code finder.  This problem apparently occurs when you click on the “Body Part” button and just see a spinning blue “waiting” disc instead of a list of body parts.

Temporary Fix: Even though the Body Part code search function does not work for some users, the rating functions still appears to work just fine.  If you know the Body Part code, you should be able to enter it manually in the box provided.  If you are performing a 2005 schedule rating, please use the full 8 digit body part code.

Permanent Solution: I am working on a fix for this problem and will update this website as soon as I am able.  I cannot be sure, but I suspect that the problem is being caused, in part, by the recent increase in the popularity of this website.1

To all paid-subscription users:

I value your business and appreciate your patience.  If this problem persists, I will create a second website exclusively for your use.

In the meantime, if you’re having problems with the calculators, however small, please e-mail through the Contact Us link at the top.  The more information I have about the problem, the better able I will be to diagnose and fix it.

Thank you again for your patience.

Sincerely,

Jay Shergill

  1. Yay, popularity!  Boo, problems! [↩]
Nov
12
2008
Business, Calculators, EAMS, Free, Javascript, PDRater, Technobabble, Workers Compensation Resources

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In a prior post I talked about the top five PDRater.com features that make your life easier.  But, when was the last time you thought about your office staff, hmm?

How can you make their job easier?  Well, the good news is you don’t have to, I’ve given you all the tools to make your office run faster and more efficiently, saving you time and money.

  1. American Idol, Top 5
    Top 5

    MPN’s.  Medical Provider Network lists, complete with logins and passwords.  Whether you’re on the applicant or defense side, your staff is going to need access to these lists.  You can find a doctor for your client or so you can give a list of doctors to opposing counsel.

  2. EAMS DWC to ADJ Number Search Engine. Chances are you’ve got cases with more than one “legacy” Board file number.  With this search engine, you can search for the corresponding EAMS ADJ numbers.  And, you can search for as many Board (or ADJ) numbers as you want at the same time, just by separating them with commas.
  3. EAMS Office Search Engine. When your staff is filling out documents for you, they’re going to need to know the correct name and address for all the parties.  When they need to call opposing counsel, they can also look up the phone number with this search engine.
  4. EAMS Document Type and Document Title Search Engine. Your staff needs a quick way to find the exact EAMS document type and EAMS document title for every document cover sheet getting filed with the Board.  Sure, they could comb through four or five pages of 3 point font on the Board’s form.  Or, better yet, they could search and find exactly the document type and title they need.
  5. EAMS Body Part Codes. There are 62 different body part codes in the EAMS system.  There’s no need to keep the EAMS chart on hand, just tell your staff what body part you want on the form and have them look it up on this website.
  6. DWC / WCAB  / EAMS Forms. There are now more than 130 different forms, new and “legacy”, available on the DIR website.  There’s no reason your staff should have to scroll up or down looking for the right form.  Type in a few characters and get a direct link right to the exact form you need.
  7. Date Calculator. Sure, everyone in your office could have their own date wheel.  In my experience, date wheels and money charts are two of the most commonly swiped office aides right after the good stapler and scotch tape.  With a date calculator built into the website, all of your staff can quickly and easily calculate the number of days between two dates or what day it will be in a certain number of days.

So, there you have the top 5, er 7, PDRater.com website search engine and workers’ compensation calculators your staff is going to benefit from using.  Registration for this site is quick, easy, and free.  Save your staff some time and frustration by having them register for this website and try out the calculators, search engines, and links.

Nov
6
2008
Author, Business, Calculators, Free, Marketing, PDRater

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A while ago a very entrepreneurial friend of mine suggested I read a book called, “The Art of the Start” by Guy Kawasaki.  This one book is responsible in no small part for the website you see today.1  Guy worked for Apple and later started an influential and innovative venture capital firm, Garage.  As if that wasn’t enough, he’s a frequent lecturer, best selling author, and avid blogger.

In one of his recent articles, he talks about “Plan B for Fund Raising.”  Here’s my take on Plans A and B:

Plan Bee*
Plan Bee

Plan A

Anyone who was alive during the late 90’s has heard of “Plan A.”  Build a prototype, put together a PowerPoint presentation, get some venture capital, and spend venture capitalist money.  You know how this story ends.  The company gets bought out and everyone is rich or the company never goes anywhere and its assets are sold for scrap.

Plan B2

Anyone who was alive during the 70’s knows all about “Plan B.”  These are the people who started businesses in their garage.  I suppose we really only hear about the success “Plan B” stories.  No one’s surprised when a home business doesn’t go big so no one talks about it.  Plan B is where somebody believes so feverishly in their own idea they work on it nights and weekends after they come home from their day job as a barrista.

The whole reason I’m writing this blog post, indeed the reason why I have this blog and website at all, is because of “Plan B.”  At its most hectic in the last year, I was working a day job, doing contract attorney and techie work for various clients, while marketing and programming these calculators.  While I didn’t live with my parents, I participated in a surprisingly (and embarrassingly) large number of the activities Guy describes under Plan B.

This is NOT something I intend to do ever again.  Thankfully, the hard work of building the calculators is done.3  These days my only continuing time commitment to this site is writing blog posts and answering fan mail.4

  1. So, if you don’t like it – blame him!  Haha! [↩]
  2. Original photo courtesy of Eye of Einstein [↩]
  3. Well, more accurately, its always almost done.  ;) [↩]
  4. But, mostly blog posts. [↩]
Nov
3
2008
Author, Calculators, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Obama and McCain on heathcare
Obama and McCain on heathcare

October was another pretty good month for PDRater.com. During the month of October, the traffic for this website increased by about 25%, I added a few new calculator features, I completely changed the look of the website, and we passed the 200 registered users mark.1

In no particular order, I’m including my favorite “photoshopped” pictures from October on the right side.  The footnotes below link to the original photographers.  None of them are to blame for the photoediting. 2345

Top Posts Awards:

Obama vs McCain: Round 3
Obama vs McCain: Round 3

2008 Presidential Election Coverage:

2008 Economic Turmoil Coverage:

*PDRater up, the Dow down
PDRater up, the Dow down

I added on to my “Road Warrior Checklists”:

In case you’re interested, here’s the best of September 2008.

  1. At the time of this post, 227 registered users! [↩]
  2. Special thanks to the kind people who use Flickr for making their photos available for use. [↩]
  3. Photos courtesy of richardmasoner, C_Dave, and mikewade. [↩]
  4. Photo courtesy of DaveHogg. [↩]
  5. Photo courtesy of Daniel Martini. [↩]