Workers’ Compensation Physical Therapy: Achieving Quality Outcomes for Timely Claims Resolution and Cost Reduction

When it comes to clinical care for individuals who are injured on the job, physical and occupational therapy can have a significant role in helping injured workers return to work in a safe, efficient, timely, and sustainable manner. This is important for the injured worker and for all stakeholders in the work comp realm, whether it be a case manager, claims professional, employer, or PT network. Driving these outcomes requires more than just a focus on effective treatment techniques – it requires an approach that is proactive, structured, evidence-based, and collaborative. At Athletico, our clinical and operational focus is committed to delivering in all of these areas.

Here are the key points that lead to quality physical rehabilitation outcomes and timely return to work:

Quick Access to Care – Starting with a Foundation for Early Recovery

Quick access matters. Starting therapy early can limit the chances of a prolonged recovery, reduce fear-avoidant behaviors, reduce the need for opioids and advanced imaging, limit deconditioning, and help prevent subpar outcomes. Streamlined and effective scheduling processes and protocols can ensure the injured worker is scheduled and seen within two business days. At Athletico, we strive to schedule all acute workers’ compensation patients within two business days unless a request is made by the referral source to schedule outside this time frame.

Understanding Job Demands – Importance for Functional Treatment

A generic treatment plan will not lead to high-quality outcomes. It is extremely important to capture a job description to understand the injured worker’s job demands. This serves as the foundation for the therapist to develop functional return-to-work goals, as well as a functional treatment program. Athletico therapists strive to capture a job description for all workers’ compensation patients. In cases where a job description is not available, job demand information from the injured worker is utilized in conjunction with communication with referral sources.

Capturing and Understanding Confounding Factors

Several factors can influence the duration, outcomes, and ultimate cost of a claim. Proactive identification of these factors can help the therapist determine these cases. Through collaboration with key stakeholders and referral sources therapists can help ensure that treatment plans achieve the desired outcomes. Athletico therapists capture information related to confounding factors at the initial visit. Best practice is to communicate any barriers with referral sources early on to ensure the injured worker gets the appropriate interventions.

ODG Awareness and the Role of Clinical Guidelines

The Official Disability Guidelines (ODG) provide evidence-based timelines for a wide range of diagnoses and conditions. Awareness of these guidelines can help ensure that care is aligned with expectations and supports clinical decision-making, considering the respective claim in light of confounding factors, physical demand levels based on job demands, and clinical status. Therapists’ awareness of these guidelines is important. Best practice for Athletico therapists is to communicate with referral sources regarding the progress of the claim, including any factors that may necessitate extended care beyond evidence-based timelines.

Proactive and Consistent Communication with Key Stakeholders

Achieving quality outcomes and a timely return to work is important. This requires team effort for each case. Transparent communication with claims professionals, case managers, PT networks, employers, and physicians helps to keep everyone aligned and informed. Progress reports should provide key information related to functional gains and status regarding job demands, return-to-work preparedness, standardized outcome measures, and any challenges to recovery. Clinical recommendations should be supported by objective data.

Achieving the Best Outcomes

When these best physical rehabilitation practices are followed, it leads to faster recoveries, reduced claim duration, and lower medical costs. At Athletico, our key operational initiatives focus on these important areas in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for timely claims resolution. Learn more about Athletico’s best practices on workers’ compensation clinical care.

The Athletico blog is an educational resource written by Athletico employees. Athletico bloggers are licensed professionals who abide by the code of ethics outlined by their respective professional associations. The content published in blog posts represents the opinion of the individual author based on their expertise and experience. The content provided in this blog is for informational purposes only, does not constitute medical advice and should not be relied on for making personal health decisions.