Early Intervention To Vocational Rehabilitation
Select Case Management Services (SCMS) provides experience and expertise in assisting companies in managing their costs in Workers’ Compensation cases. Our goal is to help your company to contain Workers’ Compensation costs through provision of highly competent and effective comprehensive rehabilitation services from early intervention to successful vocational rehabilitation outcomes.
According to the International Social Security Association (ISSA) - there is an invaluable benefit to individuals, employers, insurers and society in general when workers who otherwise would have been classified as “permanently and totally disabled” return to work as productive employees. “Timely access to appropriate medical treatment and vocational rehabilitation is a critical part of the return-to-work process. It enables the person’s quick recovery, maximum functional ability and mobility, and return to work in a position that maximizes their skills and experience.” “It is necessary to shift from a primary focus on deficits and incapacity towards an ability-oriented approach” which early intervention by experienced Case Managers with appropriately and effectively utilized vocational counseling provides.
SCMS understands that you and your employees are best served when Case Management and when appropriate Vocational Rehabilitation Services are involved at the outset of the injury to avoid long-term disability. We are able to provide important detailed medical diagnosis/prognosis information so that costs can be controlled and the most effective decisions can made both in the short term and long term for employees, employers and insurance companies and all major “stakeholders” involved in the injured workers case.
SCMS not only obtains client timeframes for rehabilitation and return to work, but we also provide timely and appropriate medical care and treatment recommendations through medical evaluations and discussions/meetings with treatment providers. We work to incorporate the employee in his/her treatment and healthcare decisions while keeping everyone informed, as to those decisions and progress of the case.
Effective Case Management Services provided through SCMS will work to keep short-term injuries from becoming long-term problems and/or long-term disabilities through establishing lines of communication with your employee, treatment providers, employers and insurance adjusters in order to ensure appropriate care for the injured worker/employee thereby effectively controlling medical/rehabilitation and case management costs.
SCMS provides both Telephonic Case Management (TCM) and Onsite Case Management (OCM) Services. In most cases, TCM is all that is necessary to facilitate a return to work for an employee; to manage the file effectively; and provide a proactive course of action that can address the pertinent issues, including treatment, return to work and a successful rehabilitation outcome. OCM is oftentimes needed to secure a positive outcome when it is determined, based on the facts of the case or the direction of treatment, that a more interventional approach is warranted. The TCM when involved can utilize OCMs intermittently or episodically i.e., attendance at independent medical evaluations or important treatment appointments to secure return to work or light duty releases. Therefore Telephonic and Onsite Case Management Services can work effectively together to reduce the overall case costs through controlling the costs of case management services themselves.
There are instances where OCM is necessary, such as when cases are more difficult or complex or when an injured employee is exhibiting no progress or limited progress. In these cases we attend medical appointments with the employee and discuss with the medical provider the need for further care, timeframes for rehabilitation and the patient’s ability to return to work. We can offer suggestions on ways to accommodate restrictions in light duty situations and/or provide job analysis and job description information so that a determination can be made as to potential for longer-term return to full duty status. We can collaborate with therapy providers in formulating job specific rehabilitation programs consistent with the functional abilities needed to perform full duty work with or without reasonable accommodations.
When the employer is unable to make reasonable accommodations to the injured employee’s restrictions, Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS) are utilized to return the employee to employment at an alternate employer. This service, implemented early in the case, will provide for the best possible outcome and avoid the case turning to a focus on deficits and to one with a future focus and one oriented to ability and maximizing potential. As noted above, “Timely access to appropriate medical treatment and vocational rehabilitation is a critical part of the return-to-work process. It enables the person’s quick recovery, maximum functional ability and mobility, and return to work in a position that maximizes their skills and experience.” “It is necessary to shift from a primary focus on deficits and incapacity towards an ability-oriented approach.”
If you need assistance with managing your cases through effective Case Management Services, you can contact SCMS at www.selectcasemanagementservices.com. Within 24 hours, one of our case managers will contact you to confirm receipt of your file, discuss the needs, desired outcomes and provide recommendations for the best steps necessary to secure a positive outcome for you and your employee/insured.