Blog

Response timing and objectivity are critical when workers experience job performance difficulty after a serious health condition like COVID-19. Studies indicate that physicians under-estimate work-related abilities after performing a clinical evaluation, especially when chronic pain and other symptoms limit performance.[1][2][3] Underestimating a worker’s abilities contributes to unnecessary work disability and lost...

WorkAbility Rate of Manipulation Test (WRMT) is brief test of hand dexterity that has a compact mini-board design and brief protocols for turning and placing tests that only take 3 minutes for 3 trials. Performance during turning or placing sub-tests is timed separately for the right and left hands to...

All too often, injured workers are over-prescribed medications for pain, rather than consulting with physical therapists who will emphasize self-management of symptoms, physical fitness, and safe work participation. Salt et al. compared treatments for low back pain (LBP) and found that opioids were over-utilized, compared to safer alternative therapies such...

Response time and early intervention are critical when workers report job performance problems due to health conditions. There is strong evidence that disability duration is reduced with integrated care that emphasizes service coordination and workplace modifications (accommodations) for workers with musculoskeletal or mental health conditions. [1] WorkerFIT has launched an innovative...

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). This year’s theme, America’s Workforce: Empowering All, recognizes the importance of removing access barriers to increase participation in the workforce by persons with disabilities. Currently, we have more open jobs in our economy than we have job seekers. Just last week, the US Department...

Rick Wickstrom, PT, DPT, CPE was invited to Washington, D.C. by the National Academy of Sciences to present and discuss residual functional capacity with its Standing Committee of Medical Experts and SSA staff in the Office of Disability Policy. Other invited guest experts included Melanie T. Ellexson, HDHc, MBA, OTR/L,...

With USUAL CARE, return to work decisions are based primarily on subjective complaints and physical exam findings that are poor predictors of work and lifestyle functioning: No pre-injury baseline of musculoskeletal fitness is available to monitor recovery progress.“Sick Notes” written to excuse “patients” from work fail to indicate which job...

Injuries and illnesses that result in lost time from work cost the US economy about $589 billion per year (Integrated Benefits Institute, 2012). Early intervention to promote stay-at-work and return-to-work plays a significant role in a person’s health, recovery from injury or illness, reduction of disability, increased productivity, and financial...

WorkAbility Systems, Inc. experienced some impressive developments in 2017 to position itself for bold moves in occupational health. Together with our WorkAbility providers and WorkerFIT partner, we are raising the bar to promote workforce safety, wellness, and productivity from hire to retire. Find out how WorkAbility Systems and its members took...

by Rick Wickstrom, PT, DPT, CPE, CDMS Assess Physical Function and Risks BEFORE Starting Opioid Therapy! Opioids are commonly prescribed to alleviate pain. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 38% of all non-institutionalized adults in the US used prescription opioids in 2015 (1). Nearly 20% of all patients...