As used in the Workers’ Compensation Act:

1. 1. "Administrator" means the Administrator of workers’ compensation as provided for in the Workers’ Compensation Act;
2. 2. "Amount in dispute" means the dollar value of any permanent disability award granted to the employee by the Court for a disability claim which is greater than the dollar amount offered by the employer to the employee for such disability claim if the employer admits compensability within twenty (20) days of the filing of the Employee’s First Notice of Accidental Injury and Claim for Compensation, has not disputed medical treatment, and has made a written settlement offer within fifteen (15) days of the employee reaching maximum medical improvement;

3. 3. "Case management" means the ongoing coordination, by a case manager, of health care services provided to an injured or disabled worker, including, but not limited to:

   1. a. systematically monitoring the treatment rendered and the medical progress of the injured or disabled worker,
   2. b. ensuring that any treatment plan follows all appropriate treatment protocols, utilization controls and practice parameters,
   3. c. assessing whether alternative health care services are appropriate and delivered in a cost-effective manner based upon acceptable medical standards, and
   4. d. ensuring that the injured or disabled worker is following the prescribed health care plan;

4. 4. "Case manager" means a person who:

   1. a. is a registered nurse with a current, active unencumbered license from the Oklahoma Board of Nursing, or

   2. b. possesses one or more of the following certifications which indicate the individual has a minimum number of years of case management experience, has passed a national competency test and regularly obtains continuing education hours to maintain certification:

      1. (1) Certified Disability Management Specialist (CDMS),
      2. (2) Certified Case Manager (CCM),
      3. (3) Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse (CRRN),
      4. (4) Case Manager – Certified (CMC),
      5. (5) Certified Occupational Health Nurse (COHN), or
      6. (6) Certified Occupational Health Nurse Specialist (COHN-S);
5. 5. "Claimant" means a person who claims benefits for an injury pursuant to the provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act;
6. 6. "Court" means the Workers’ Compensation Court;
7. 7. "Cumulative trauma" means a compensable injury, the major cause of which results from employment activities which are repetitive in nature and engaged in over a period of time and which is supported by objective medical evidence as defined in this section;
8. 8. "Employer", except when otherwise expressly stated, means a person, partnership, association, limited liability company, corporation, and the legal representatives of a deceased employer, or the receiver or trustee of a person, partnership, association, corporation, or limited liability company, departments, instrumentalities and institutions of this state and divisions thereof, counties and divisions thereof, public trusts, boards of education and incorporated cities or towns and divisions thereof, employing a person included within the term "employee" as herein defined;
9. 9. "Employee" means any person engaged in the employment of any person, firm, limited liability company or corporation covered by the terms of the Workers’ Compensation Act, and shall include workers associating themselves together under an agreement for the performance of a particular piece of work, in which event such persons so associating themselves together shall be deemed employees of the person having the work executed; provided, that if such associated workers shall employ a worker in the execution of such contract, then as to such employed worker, both the associated employees and the principal employer shall at once become subject to the provisions of the Workers’ Compensation Act relating to independent contractors. Sole proprietors, members of a partnership, members of a limited liability company who own at least ten percent (10%) of the capital of the limited liability company or any stockholder-employees of a corporation who own ten percent (10%) or more stock in the corporation are specifically excluded from the foregoing definition of "employee", and shall not be deemed to be employees as respects the benefits of the Workers’ Compensation Act. Provided, a sole proprietor, member of a partnership, member of a limited liability company who owns at least ten percent (10%) of the capital of the limited liability company or any stockholder-employee of a corporation who owns ten percent (10%) or more stock in the corporation who does not so elect to be covered by a policy of insurance covering benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act, when acting as a subcontractor, shall not be eligible to be covered under the prime contractor’s policy of workers’ compensation insurance; however, nothing herein shall relieve the entities enumerated from providing workers’ compensation insurance coverage for their employees. Sole proprietors, members of a partnership, members of a limited liability company who own at least ten percent (10%) of the capital of the limited liability company or any stockholder-employees of a corporation who own ten percent (10%) or more stock in the corporation may elect to include the sole proprietors, any or all of the partnership members, any or all of the limited liability company members or any or all stockholder-employees as employees, if otherwise qualified, by endorsement to the policy specifically including them under any policy of insurance covering benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act. When so included, the sole proprietors, members of a partnership, members of a limited liability company or any or all stockholder-employees shall be deemed to be employees as respects the benefits of the Workers’ Compensation Act. "Employee" shall also include any person who is employed by the departments, instrumentalities and institutions of this state and divisions thereof, counties and divisions thereof, public trusts, boards of education and incorporated cities or towns and divisions thereof. "Employee" shall also include a member of the Oklahoma National Guard while in the performance of duties only while in response to state orders and any authorized voluntary or uncompensated worker, rendering services as a firefighter, peace officer or emergency management worker. Provided, "employee" shall not include any other person providing or performing voluntary service who receives no wages for the services other than meals, drug or alcohol rehabilitative therapy, transportation, lodging or reimbursement for incidental expenses. "Employee" shall also include a participant in a sheltered workshop program which is certified by the United States Department of Labor. "Employee" shall not include a person, commonly referred to as an owner-operator, who owns or leases a truck-tractor or truck for hire, if the owner-operator actually operates the truck-tractor or truck and if the person contracting with the owner-operator is not the lessor of the truck-tractor or truck. Provided, however, an owner-operator shall not be precluded from workers’ compensation coverage under the Workers’ Compensation Act if the owner-operator elects to participate as a sole proprietor. "Employee" shall not include a person referred to as a drive-away owner-operator who privately owns and utilizes a tow vehicle in drive-away operations and operates independently for hire, if the drive-away owner-operator actually utilizes the tow vehicle and if the person contracting with the drive-away owner-operator is not the lessor of the tow vehicle. Provided, however, a drive-away owner-operator shall not be precluded from workers’ compensation coverage under the Workers’ Compensation Act if the drive-away owner-operator elects to participate as a sole proprietor;
10. 10. "Drive-away operations" include every person engaged in the business of transporting and delivering new or used vehicles by driving, either singly or by towbar, saddle mount or full mount method, or any combination thereof, with or without towing a privately owned vehicle;
11. 11. "Employment" includes work or labor in a trade, business, occupation or activity carried on by an employer or any authorized voluntary or uncompensated worker rendering services as a firefighter, peace officer or emergency management worker;
12. 12. "Compensation" means the money allowance payable to an employee as provided for in the Workers’ Compensation Act;

13. 13.

    1. a. "Compensable injury" means any injury or occupational illness, causing internal or external harm to the body, which arises out of and in the course of employment if such employment was the major cause of the specific injury or illness. An injury, other than cumulative trauma, is compensable only if it is caused by a specific incident and is identifiable by time, place and occurrence unless it is otherwise defined as compensable in this title. A compensable injury must be established by objective medical evidence, as defined in this section.
    2. b. Compensable injury" includes heart-related or vascular injury, illness or death only if an accident or the claimant’s employment is the major cause of the heart-related or vascular injury. Such injury shall be compensable only if it is demonstrated that the exertion necessary to produce the harm was extraordinary and unusual in comparison to other occupations and that the occupation was the major cause of the harm. The injury must be established by objective medical evidence, as defined in this section.
    3. c. "Injury" or "personal injury" shall not include mental injury that is unaccompanied by physical injury, except in the case of rape which arises out of and in the course of employment.
    4. d. "Compensable injury" shall not include the ordinary, gradual deterioration or progressive degeneration caused by the aging process, unless the employment is a major cause of the deterioration or degeneration and is supported by objective medical evidence, as defined in this section; nor shall it include injury incurred while engaging in, performing or as the result of engaging in or performing any recreational or social activities;
14. 14. "Wages" means the money rate at which the service rendered is recompensed under the contract of hiring in force at the time of the injury, including the reasonable value of board, rent, housing, lodging, or similar advantage received from the employer;
15. 15. "Insurance carrier" shall include stock corporations, reciprocal or interinsurance associations, or mutual associations with which employers have insured, and employers permitted to pay compensation, directly under the provisions of paragraph 4 of subsection A of Section 61 of this title;
16. 16. "Major cause" means the predominate cause of the resulting injury or illness;
17. 17. "Objective medical evidence" means evidence which meets the criteria of Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and all U.S. Supreme Court case law applicable thereto;
18. 18. "Occupational disease" means only that disease or illness which is due to causes and conditions characteristic of or peculiar to the particular trade, occupation, process or employment in which the employee is exposed to such disease. An occupational disease arises out of the employment only if the employment was the major cause of the resulting occupational disease and such is supported by objective medical evidence, as defined in this section;
19. 19. "Permanent impairment" means any anatomical abnormality after maximum medical improvement has been achieved, which abnormality or loss the physician considers to be capable of being evaluated at the time the rating is made. Except as otherwise provided herein, any examining physician shall only evaluate impairment in accordance with the latest publication of the American Medical Association’s "Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment" in effect at the time of the injury. The Physician Advisory Committee may, pursuant to Section 201.1 of this title, recommend the adoption of a method or system to evaluate permanent impairment that shall be used in place of or in combination with the American Medical Association’s "Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment". Such recommendation shall be made to the Administrator of the Workers’ Compensation Court who may adopt the recommendation in part or in whole. The adopted method or system shall be submitted by the Administrator to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate within the first ten (10) legislative days of a regular session of the Legislature. Such method or system to evaluate permanent impairment that shall be used in place of or in combination with the American Medical Association’s "Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment" shall be subject to disapproval in whole or in part by joint or concurrent resolution of the Legislature during the legislative session in which submitted. Such method or system shall be operative one hundred twenty (120) days after the last day of the month in which the Administrator submits the adopted method or system to the Legislature if the Legislature takes no action or one hundred twenty (120) days after the last day of the month in which the Legislature disapproves it in part. If adopted, permanent impairment shall be evaluated only in accordance with the latest version of the alternative method or system in effect at the time of injury. Except as otherwise provided in Section 11 of this title, all evaluations shall include an apportionment of injury causation. However, revisions to the guides made by the American Medical Association which are published after January 1, 1989, and before January 1, 1995, shall be operative one hundred twenty (120) days after the last day of the month of publication. Revisions to the guides made by the American Medical Association which are published after December 31, 1994, may be adopted in whole or in part by the Administrator following recommendation by the Physician Advisory Committee. Revisions adopted by the Administrator shall be submitted by the Administrator to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate within the first ten (10) legislative days of a regular session of the Legislature. Such revisions shall be subject to disapproval in whole or in part by joint or concurrent resolution of the Legislature during the legislative session in which submitted. Revisions shall be operative one hundred twenty (120) days after the last day of the month in which the Administrator submits the revisions to the Governor and the Legislature if the Legislature takes no action or one hundred twenty (120) days after the last day of the month in which the Legislature disapproves them in part. The examining physician shall not follow the guides based on race or ethnic origin. The examining physician shall not deviate from said guides or any alternative thereto except as may be specifically provided for in the guides or modifications to the guides or except as may be specifically provided for in any alternative or modifications thereto, adopted by the Administrator of the Workers’ Compensation Court as provided for in Section 201.1 of this title. These officially adopted guides or modifications thereto or alternative system or method of evaluating permanent impairment or modifications thereto shall be the exclusive basis for testimony and conclusions with regard to permanent impairment with the exception of paragraph 3 of Section 22 of this title, relating to scheduled member injury or loss; and impairment, including pain or loss of strength, may be awarded with respect to those injuries or areas of the body not specifically covered by said guides or alternative to said guides. All evaluations of permanent impairment must be supported by objective medical evidence;
20. 20. "Permanent total disability" means incapacity because of accidental injury or occupational disease to earn any wages in any employment for which the employee may become physically suited and reasonably fitted by education, training or experience, including vocational rehabilitation; loss of both hands, or both feet, or both legs, or both eyes, or any two thereof, shall constitute permanent total disability;
21. 21. "Permanent partial disability" means permanent disability which is less than total and shall be equal to or the same as permanent impairment;
22. 22. "Maximum medical improvement" means that no further material improvement would reasonably be expected from medical treatment or the passage of time;
23. 23. "Independent medical examiner" means a licensed physician authorized to serve as a medical examiner pursuant to Section 17 of this title;
24. 24. "Certified workplace medical plan" means an organization of health care providers or any other entity, certified by the State Commissioner of Health pursuant to Section 14.3 of this title, that is authorized to enter into a contractual agreement with a self-insured employer, group self-insurance association plan, an employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier or an insured, which shall include any member of an approved group self-insured association, policyholder or public entity, regardless of whether such entity is insured by CompSource Oklahoma, to provide medical care under the Workers’ Compensation Act. Certified plans shall only include such plans which provide medical services and payment for services on a fee-for-service basis to medical providers and shall not include other plans which contract in some other manner, such as capitated or pre-paid plans; and
25. 25. "Treating physician" means the licensed physician selected as provided in Section 14 of this title.

Added by Laws 1915, HB 106, c. 246, § 3; Amended by Laws 1919, SB 36, c. 14, §§ 2, 3; Amended by Laws 1923, SB 155, c. 61, § 2; Amended by Laws 1941, HB 159, c. 1a, p. 477, § 2; Amended by Laws 1945, SB 79, c. 1, pp. 414, 415, §§ 1, 2, emerg. eff. May 7, 1945; Amended by Laws 1953, HB 791, c. 1, p. 427, §§ 1, 2, emerg. eff. June 6, 1953; Amended by Laws 1957, HB 783, c. 1, p. 571, § 1, emerg. eff. May 15, 1957; Amended by Laws 1959, SB 249, c. 1a, p. 397, § 1, emerg. eff. July 15, 1959; Amended by Laws 1961, HB 738, c. 1, p. 638, § 2, emerg. eff. April 26, 1961; Amended by Laws 1977, HB 1228, c. 234, § 6, emerg. eff. July 1, 1978; Amended by Laws 1985, SB 158, c. 266, § 1, eff. November 1, 1985; Amended by Laws 1986, SB 496, c. 222, § 5, eff. November 1, 1986; Amended by Laws 1988, HB 1655, c. 2, § 1, emerg. eff. February 3, 1988; Amended by Laws 1990, SB 830, c. 283, § 3, eff. September 1, 1990; Amended by Laws 1992, HB 2132, c. 294, § 2, eff. September 1, 1992; Amended by Laws 1993, HB 1447, c. 349, § 2 (repealed by Laws 1994, HB 2299, c. 2, § 34, emerg. eff. March 2, 1994); Amended by Laws 1993, SB 527, c. 366, § 51, eff. September 1, 1993; Amended by Laws 1994, HB 2299, c. 2, § 33, emerg. eff. March 2, 1994; Amended by Laws 1994, 2nd Extr. Sess., HB 1002, c. 1, § 17, emerg. eff. November 4, 1994; Amended by Laws 1996, HB 2469, c. 105, § 1, eff. November 1, 1996; Amended by Laws 1996, SB 1310, c. 363, § 1, eff. November 1, 1996; Amended by Laws 1997, HB 2003, c. 188, § 1, eff. November 1, 1997; Amended by Laws 1997, SB 730, c. 361, § 3, eff. November 1, 1997 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2001, 1st Extr. Sess., HB 1003, c. 3, § 4, emerg. eff. October 23, 2001 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2003, HB 1512, c. 329, § 60, emerg. eff. May 29, 2003 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2005, 1st Extr. Sess., SB 1, c. 1, § 9, emerg. eff. July 1, 2005 (superseded document available).