Is the patient off from work for a much longer time than is typical for their condition?.When should an attorney consider requesting a Sub Rosa?Īn attorney may consider a Sub Rosa to be useful if one or more of the following are present: It’s also important for the doctor to state whether she can clearly identify that the person being filmed is the patient in question, or whether she knows it is certainly not the patient, or whether she can’t tell. It is advisable for the doctor to dictate what she observes the patient doing while she watches the tape. What should the doctor do while viewing surveillance footage of a patient? In these cases, their limitations ambiguous. It’s very important, therefore, that Sub Rosas span several, separate days, to provide an accurate view of the patient’s conditions. Sometimes a patient may claim that they have good days and bad days.
The fundamental purpose of this surveillance is to verify or disprove the validity of what the person is claiming in regards to their physical or psychological conditions. When insurance adjusters, employers, or medical providers require a Sub Rosa investigation, they are normally looking evidence that an employee can perform observable physical activities that are in excess of what they claim they can do.įor instance, an injured worker may report that they can’t lift anything, or can’t bend over, or can’t walk without a cane. What are the stakeholders looking for in a Sub Rosa? The second, and less common use of Sub Rosa in work comp is to investigate a doctor, an employer, work sites, and/or working conditions. The investigator attempts to observe what level of physical activity the injured worker can or cannot perform. During a Sub Rosa investigation, usually an investigator is sent out to survey the injured worker. Sub Rosa is a fancy latin term that literally means “Under the Rose.” In workers’ compensation, however, it means secret investigation-surveillance. This article is for medical providers, insurance adjusters, and attorneys who want to better understand the process of a Sub Rosa within the context of a workers’ compensation case.