Viviana Elizabeth Taboada — ADJ11775583

Applicant Viviana Taboada, a caregiver, sustained an admitted industrial injury to her right hip and right lower extremity on November 24, 2018, after falling while performing caregiving duties, suffering an intertrochanteric hip fracture requiring ORIF. Her PTP requested home health care services of six hours per day, seven days per week; a February 16, 2021 UR decision certified the care as medically necessary but modified it to six hours per day, five days per week, stating interim services were needed until a permanent solution could be found. IMR upheld the modification. Defendant sought reconsideration of the WCJ's F&O, challenging WCAB jurisdiction, industrial causation, and the burden-shifting analysis. The Board affirmed the F&O (as amended), holding it had jurisdiction under Labor Code sections 4604 and 5304 to enforce a valid UR/IMR certification of medically necessary treatment, and that the March 16, 2021 RFA presented no new question of medical necessity. The Board ordered defendant to continue providing the specified home health care until the parties demonstrate reasonable efforts to identify and implement a permanent solution.