Workers' comp
Medical provider network (MPN)
A network of physicians an employer or insurer sets up with DWC approval, from which an injured worker generally must choose treating doctors.
What an MPN is
A medical provider network is a group of providers an insurer, employer or network entity establishes to treat injured employees. The network must include physicians primarily engaged in treating occupational injuries, and it operates under the DWC Administrative Director's rules (Labor Code section 4616). When a valid MPN covers the employer, the injured worker generally picks their primary treating physician from within it.
The rule
If there is no MPN, the worker may choose their own doctor 30 days after reporting the injury (Labor Code section 4600(c)). With an MPN, a worker who disputes a network doctor's diagnosis or treatment may get the opinion of a second and then a third physician in the network (Labor Code section 4616.3), and then an MPN independent medical review (Labor Code section 4616.4). Whether the employee must treat within an MPN is one of the issues that can go to an expedited hearing, to be decided within 30 days of the declaration of readiness (Labor Code section 5502(b)).
Why it matters to an applicant firm
Whether a valid MPN applies, and whether the employee was properly notified of it, decides who picks the treating doctor. That in turn shapes TD certification, treatment requests and much of the medical record before the QME. Applicant firms ask for the MPN notice at intake, check the network's provider list for the needed specialty, and document access problems. Treatment requests within an MPN still go through utilization review and IMR.
Sources
General information about California and federal rules, not legal advice. Rules change and every case turns on its facts: check the statute and your own analysis before relying on a date or a figure.