Meet Dr. Halvorson

Current (2011) and Past:

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Employed by Arizona Pain Specialists on and off for 13 years ending in Spring of 2023 performing EMG/NCV in five pain management centers in Scottsdale, Glendale, Chandler, Phoenix, and Gilbert. Duties include supervision of mid-level practitioners and education of pain providers on appropriate utilization of EMG/NCV studies. Increased EMG referrals from less that fifty per month to over 225 EMG's per month while maintaining a percentage of abnormal findings consistently above 70% of referrals. EMG's included multiple outside monthly referrals from hand surgeons, spine surgeons, neurologists, rheumatologists, pain management, cardiology, internal medicine, and primary care. 

Utilization Review Expert in Worker’s Compensation for Clinical Compensation Consultants in Austin, Texas:
Determine if requests for treatment or diagnostic testing or medications meet criteria established by various guideline references such as ACOEM, AMA Guides to Permanent Impairment, MTUS, and various state guidelines in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and Texas.

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Independent medical contractor to multiple occupational health and orthopedic centers in California performing electrodiagnostic testing of injured workers (EMG/NCV) in San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Diego County, and Victorville until 2014, typically performing 50-60 studies weekly.

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Medical Director and expert witness for Fidelis Diagnostics in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Colorado, Texas, and New York, a national firm providing electrodiagnostic services to primary care, podiatry, cardiology, and endocrinology clinics in multiple states with an emphasis on the early diagnosis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and related entrapment neuropathies. Interpreted over 16,000 nerve studies in 4 years.

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Physician reviewer for Medical Equation (based in Austin, Texas) performing weekly Utilization Review and Preauthorization in Occupational Medicine in Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, New York and several additional states under contract to Concentra, QME/AME on behalf of Medical Equation in California.

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Past (2009 and prior):

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Physician staff electromyographer for Neurodiagnostic Laboratories in Phoenix, Arizona with 5 locations providing comprehensive electrodiagnostic testing performed by neurologists and physiatrists.

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Pain management/physical medicine consultant/electromyographer at Concentra Medical Centers in Fresno, Bakersfield, Orange and Fullerton: second opinions, primary care, soft tissue and joint injections, EMG and NCV studies, and prescribing therapy and rehabilitative exercise for injured workers 12/03-12/09.

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Physical medicine: nearly thirty years of private practice in outpatient musculoskeletal medicine with an emphasis on the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of injuries related to work, play, sports, and aches and pains of aging. This includes independent consulting to pain and industrial medicine centers.

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Electrodiagnosis: Extensive experience as an electromyographer performing EMG and NCV in my private practice as well as a consultant to occupational health centers for the neuromuscular evaluation of injured workers. Past oral examiner for the national EMG board, past Arizona physician representative for ten years to the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and a former member of the AANEM Education Committee. Averaged 3-4,000 interpretations annually for Fidelis Diagnostics.

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Sports Medicine: Prominent career in Sports Medicine as a high school team physician, University of Arizona team consultant for ten years, volunteer director of the University of Arizona Student Health Services Sports Injury Clinic for nine years, volunteer physician at the U.S. Olympic Sports Training Center in Colorado Springs, member of the U.S. Olympic Sports Medical Society, and founding Chairman of the Sports Medicine Special Interest Group for the Academy of PMR.

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Providence Medical Center, Seattle, Washington. Hospital-based group practice in PMR and EMG/NCV. Inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient physical medicine, hospital sports medicine clinic, Interlake HS team MD.

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Rehabilitation Medicine Associates, Tucson, Arizona. PMR group practice providing inpatient and outpatient services at multiple Tucson hospitals. Busy inpatient and outpatient EMG/NCV referral practice.

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START Clinics of Tucson and Tempe, Arizona. Medical Director, owner of 2 free-standing multidisciplinary musculoskeletal medicine and health promotion clinics with over 40 employees including physiatrists, physical therapists, athletic trainers, exercise physiologists, RN’s, and support personnel. Treated musculoskeletal injuries and conditions related to work, play, sports, and aging. Developed executive fitness and wellness programs. Built two award winning buildings totaling over 13,000 SF housing over $1.6M in the latest diagnostic and therapeutic exercise equipment including full exercise gyms, computer video analysis of sports movement such as the golf swing and work related back injuries. Created innovative sports rehabilitation protocols with computer assisted evaluation and therapy equipment.

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Eldorado Hospital Rehabilitation Center. Founder and Medical Director of a 20-bed inpatient unit in Tucson providing comprehensive treatment of spinal cord injury, head injury, stroke, and other neuromuscular and orthopedic disorders (7/83-7/88). In 1988 Chairman of Restorative Services at Tucson Medical Center and assisted in the establishment of a 30-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit eventually purchased by HealthSouth.

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Independent medical consultant and electromyographer from 1993-2001 in Tucson, Arizona. Staff physiatrist and electromyographer for Concentra Medical Centers in Tucson in 1999 and 2000 doing nerve testing, consultations, soft tissue and joint injections, and prescribing therapy treatment of injured workers. Physiatry and EDX consultant at Vax-D Medical Center in Tucson, a spine clinic with physicians in pain management, spine surgeons, chiropractors, physical therapists utilizing spine distraction therapy, spine stabilization and stress management in the non-surgical and surgical treatment of cervical and lumbar spine disorders.

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Sports Medicine Consultant. While Director of START Clinics I was also Director of Sports Injury Clinic at the University of Arizona Student Health Services and a consultant to the UA Department of Athletics. Routinely saw varsity athletes weekly and students at sports clinic at Student Health. Team physician Santa Rita High School, consultant for the Canadian National Cycling Team (while training in Tucson), and sponsor of the Tucson Team Start Junior Cycling Team. I also treated Arizona State University athletes referred to our Start Clinic in Tempe Arizona a few miles from the main ASU campus.

Phoenix Rehabilitation Associates and Center for Pain and Rehabilitation. Moved to Phoenix in 2001 as staff physiatrist and electromyographer at outpatient pain management practice employing multidisciplinary team of physiatrists, anesthesiologists, osteopaths and internists specializing in comprehensive pain medicine.

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Moved to Southern California in 2002 to be closer to my wife’s family. Independent contractor to multiple occupational health centers including Concentra Medical Center clinics in Orange County, Bakersfield and Fresno doing physical medicine consults and electrodiagnosis. Moved back to Phoenix in 2008 for family reasons but continued to work in SoCal every other week doing EMG’s for various orthopedic surgeons certified by the State of California as Qualified Medical Examiners. Every other week staff electromyographer for Neurodiagnostic Labs of Phoenix for one year while one of their neurologists was hospitalized for a serious illness. In June of 2011 became full time employee of Arizona Pain Specialists.

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