PHYSICIANS, CASE MANAGER AND THERAPIST WORK TOGETHER IN JOB FUNCTION MATCHING® FOR RETURN TO WORK

By Barb Machtan MS, CRC, CCM, and Nancy Bellendorf, OTR

Quote from Dr William E. Wessels, MD - Orthopaedic Surgeon & Sports Medicine at Bone & Joint Clinic S.C.:
"Job Function Matching helps to enhance my care of patients with WC injuries by having the therapist at the company taking actual objective measurements of what the work demands are and what the patient’s capabilities are throughout the healing process."

Quote from Dr Kulpreet K. Sahota, MD - Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation/Pain Management at Bone & Joint Clinic S.C.:
"I believe Job Function Matching benefits my patients by helping them to fully understand that even though they may have pain, they are still able to safely function at work. Because the patient is a part of the Job Function Matching, they are provided with a sense of control, which aids in the patient’s recovery."

A forward-thinking orthopedic medical group uses DSI Job Function Matching® for return to work. Excellent medical care blends with the job matching used by therapists and employers. This article shares how all parties work together as a team to help place workers back on the job.

The relationship between Bone & Joint and Work Safe Therapy & Ergonomics started with a request for the therapist to go onsite to analyze the work demands for one patient. Secondly, a local employer invested in post-offer and return to work functional testing.

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COST EFFECTIVE DISABILITY MANAGEMENT, PART 2

By Mary Harris MS CRC

The most cost-effective disability management plans support employees. Serving people and saving money go hand-in-hand. It is necessary for organizations to keep in mind the needs of the claimants in order to maximize employee satisfaction and minimize costs.

Successful disability management depends upon the adoption of a whole-of-organization approach. Everyone from senior management, through supervisors and employees should be on board for the system to function efficiently, sustainably and supportively. If this commitment seems like a big task, just remember that the main skill needed is good project management, with just a little specialist expertise thrown in.

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LEGAL UPDATE: Functional testing, or lack of it, is important in case rulings

WorkersComp Forum Update: How to Radically Change Workers' Comp July 14, 2011

Case name: Rambough v. C.V. Hill Refrigeration, No. A-5184-09T3 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 05/05/11).

Ruling: The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division held that a punch press operator was permanently disabled

The employer presented the testimony of an employability expert who opined that the operator had transferable employment skills. She identified several jobs the operator could perform because they required hand movements that would be gross, not fine, movements. The employability expert did not perform dexterity tests. The operator presented her employability expert who performed dexterity tests and opined that she was unemployable. The court found the employer failed to rebut the finding that the operator was permanently totally disabled. The expert's failure to test the operator's hands prevented showing a connection between the operator's hands and the expert's findings.

INJURY PREVENTION IMPORTANCE TO INDUSTRY

An interview featuring Scott Ege PT MS, Ege WorkSmart Solutions and a DSI faculty member

The Rockford Registered Star (IL) newspaper featured an article on ergonomics and injury prevention on May 6, 2011 by Mike DeDoncker.

Quoting Scott Ege: "The best work-related injury is the one that never happened" Ege, who spends about 12 hours a week at Schneider Electric, talks about business economics "for a company to be profitable they need to be able to build a product at the lowest cost and sell it at a premium price. Part of the cost on their bottom line is the impact of injuries that happen at work, and even injuries that didn’t happen at work.

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WELCOME NEW DSI PROVIDERS IN DSI JOB FUNCTION MATCHING AND FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT

All new and current DSI providers can be accessed with the following link: View DSI providers

New providers
Align Therapy, Hayward, WI
Blue Ridge Physical Therapy, Johnson City, TN
Center for Muscle and Joint Therapy, Superior, WI
OSF/ Center for Industrial Rehab, Peoria, IL
Olmsted Medical Center, Rehabilitation Services, Rochester, MN