INJURY SOLUTIONS
The Medical Provider’s Role in
the Return-to-Work Process
Ensure that primary care providers are doing their part for an effective
RTW program
By Clifford Gerow, Injury Solutions Canada Inc.
A solid return-to-work (RTW) program and policy for
all employers is a necessity by law and a huge finan-cial
bonus when operated properly by all parties in-volved.
This article discusses the roles and responsibilities of the
medical community in the RTW process.
As in all aspects of the RTW process, each member of the pro-cess
– injured worker, employer/supervisor, WCB and medical care
providers – must know their responsibilities and roles to ensure the
most efficient outcome of any workplace injury. Knowing each per-son’s
role in the process will ensure a successful RTW plan that ben-efits
the injured worker and the injury employer.
Primary medical care providers in Saskatchewan are required by
their respective governing bodies to cooperate in the RTW process.
“The Treating Physician’s Role In Helping Patients Return To Work
After An Illness or Injury (Update 2013) says the physician will follow
the following policy: Providing objective, accurate and timely med-ical
information as part of the timely return-to-work program,” ac-cording
to policy from the Canadian Medical Association.
All primary medical care providers, such as physicians, physical
therapists, chiropractors and others are also governed by a very sim-ilar
policy with their respective governing bodies.
This is all designed to ensure that the RTW program is effective
and will enable the injured worker to be treated and dealt with in
a manner that will return them to work in a timely and success-ful
timeframe, keeping the needs and requirements of the injured
worker front and centre.
Multiple studies have been conducted over the years that clear-ly
show the importance of the injured worker returning to work in
an accommodated – or gradual – RTW program as soon as possi-ble.
The studies show that the injured worker benefits greatly phys-ically
with this type of program, actually healing faster and more
completely. The studies also show that the injured worker is signifi-cantly
better off psychologically, as well, when they are engaged in
the RTW process. The overall results are far better for both the in-jured
worker and their workplace.
The practitioner’s role
What should the injured worker and/or employer do when a pri-mary
care provider does not cooperate, and instead merely issues
a doctor’s note saying the injured worker is off work for a period
of time? In this scenario, there are no indications from the primary
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