Cheryl's Blogspot

A work injury is NO vacation!  Most of us would agree with that statement.  It's never fun to get hurt, yet it doesn't stop an injured worker from trying to turn recovery time into paid time off.  It is very common to have clients make requests to postpone procedures, therapy and return to work for personal reasons.  If this request is made to a physician under their group health insurance, it is not really an issue.  However when such a request is made during healing timeframe from a work injury, this is not an appropriate or reasonable request. As Case Managers, we must remind both the injured worker and providers that during recovery and rehabilitation time the injured worker's "job" is to heal and comply with appropriate treatment and work status.   Just this week, Deana Scott, RN had a client to request postponing her light duty return to work until she could finish outpatient therapy.  What Deana reminded her of, was that the activity of...

She's already done it twice this week - shut down a file with one Physician visit.  But this just goes to show how effective an onsite RN Case Manager can be!  She once got MMI and RTW on three files, on the first MD visit, all in one day.  We call her our One Hit Wonder.  You know, like artists that got a number one hit with one song that was amazing.  Steve Martin's King Tut still is an all time favorite one hit wonder!   Click Here to Play King Tut Video                    How does she do it?  Well, honestly most of the time it boils down to communication. Communication with the injured worker. Communication with the employer. Communication with the physician.  Nothing brings everyone together on the same page quite like onsite (field) case management.  Gathering pertinent information in a thorough intake assessment, and coming to the physician visit prepared with that info...