When an employer is seeking to develop a relationship with a nurse case manager, one should outline the company’s expectations before services are required. This will insure that the nurse understands your business and your policies on such things as return to work and transitional duty.
The nurse case manager should know what you expect with regard to work issues. Do you accommodate all light duty? If not, do you have sedentary duty available? Do you have positions with low weight requirements that could be used for claimants on light duty restrictions?
You should insist that the nurse visit the job site a minimum of once per year. A nurse can better understand the injury when he or she can examine the work environment and any machinery that might have been involved. If there is a particular area which seems to be the site of frequent injuries, the nurse might be able to make suggestions for improving work flow and preventing future injury.
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A nurse you select to work with your company should be PROACTIVE not REACTIVE. Your nurse should be a bit of a chess player. He or she should be able to anticipate the next move by the physician and prepare the claimant and the account for the next treatment, test, or equipment needed. The nurse should always be actively assessing the situation. Is the claimant progressing? Are there other issues at play such as financial or emotional? Is the medical staff accommodating to your claimant?
While many nurse case managers have experiences in occupational medicine, others do not. Spending a few minutes teaching him or her about your shifts and hours of operation can also help save you money. If a nurse understands the difference in what makes an injury OSHA recordable they might see that a physician order releasing a claimant back to work on the “next scheduled work day” is quite different than a “return to work on Monday.
By outlining your expectations for nurse case management, you can better manage your lost time and see a significant return on your investment with regard to your workers’ compensation claims. Nurses are great resources for all kinds of medically related care. They see the body as a whole. By developing the relationship with a nurse case manager you not only manage your injury claims, but can also tap into this valuable resource for managing issues before they get out of hand.
Victoria Powell is the President of VP Medical Consulting, LLC located in Central Arkansas. VP Medical Consulting is a nurse consulting firm providing services to employers, insurance companies, attorneys and the general public. Services include case management, life care planning, legal nurse consulting, ergonomics and patient advocacy. Ms. Powell holds specialty certifications in a variety of nursing specialties. She can be reached through the web at http://www.vp-medical.com/ or by phone at 501-778-3378.
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