Four Things the Treating Physician Can Do to Help Implement a Transitional Duty Program

1. Obtain an agreement from the treating physician not to prescribe “no work” for the employee without first discussing the matter with the employer.

An injured employee may be able to function in a transitional work capacity much sooner if such a program is already in place.

2. Employers should ensure their doctors or physician consultants remain in regular contact with all treating physicians.

The company doctor should receive periodic reports on the patients progress. During the treatment process, the company doctor or physician consultant should also fax the treating physician transitional work job descriptions so the physician can determine if the patient is able to perform the tasks listed in the description. (WCxKit)

3. The treating physician will describe the injured employees physical capabilities throughout the convalescent process, and whether the employee can work in any capacity. Some TPAs employe doctors, called peer-to-peer doctors, who enage is this type of liason to discuss the injured employee's condition.

4. Companies should request a Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) which is a physical examination assessing a person’s capacity for physical exertion and range of motion activities. Sometimes, FCEs are done by physical therapy operations, and this is a good option also. The treating physician orders the FCE. Make the treating phsycian know you want to use FCE's as an indemnity cost control technique.

Transitional work programs are much easier to establish than one may imagine. It is a commonly held belief that once employees become injured or ill, they must remain out of the workplace for an extended period of time.

This, of course, will result in lengthy and costly workers compensation claims costs. This traditional perspective is being altered by employers who, due to a changing economic climate, are developing methods to reduce their workers compensation and disability costs.

Many employers now take a more active role in coordinating the activities of the injured employee and the treating physician by carrying out transitional work programs, which generate the expectation that the employee will return to work in some capacity within a specified period of time.

These newly held assumptions benefit both the employee and the employer. For employers, transitional work programs are helpful because they reduce costly workers compensation claims.

And employees benefit by maintaining a positive self-image while remaining a productive member of the work force.

The phenomenon of “psychological disemployment” occurs when employees are away from the work environment for an extended period. During this period, employees begin to perceive themselves as having become “distanced” from the company — that is, the same company paying their workers compensation benefits.(WCxKit)

Ideally 95% of employees will return to work within four days. Best practice is 90% of employees never leave the workplace, receiving treatment on-or-off-site and returning to a transitional duty job as soon as they are medically able to do so.