The Ethical Practitioner

Following a work injury, workers, case managers, and employers contemplate a worker's ability and safety to return back to prior work. Mainwhile, the injured patient await their appontment with a physician to decide on their return to work verdict. However, the situation is usually gaurded as physicains are wary of sending a patient back to their job when they are not quite sure of the job functional description and demands. On the other hand, the patient is wary of what his employer might just be thinking and also scared of reinjuring himself. At the same time, case managers contemplate the reliability of the injury and credibility of the worker. These are varying prospectives that slows down the effectiveness of the system. Many injured patients spend significant amount of time doing absolutely nothing while waiting for the system to sort it self. When such dynamics persist and fester over a significant duration, it becomes a burden on the employee, the system and an unnecessary expense on employers.

While all involved stakeholders focus their effort to helping the injured worker, the means to get the worker back to work should be focus on the worker and the work. Most practitioners focus their attention and decision on pain rather than function, making it difficult to start focusing on functional performance. The ethical employer and practitioner will think of the most beneficial process, an effective treatment course with least consequencies to safely return the worker back to his prior work. Employers must be willing to provide modified and transitional work to bring the employee back to the work environment. It is a win-win for all stakeholders and cost effective for the employer to have workers at the work site immediately, when it is safe to do so. Also employers should grant the injured worker time to access good medical and rehab care until it is medically necessary to be discharged.

At EZ Rehab Solutions, we are committed to making this process as smooth and efficient by rightly focusing on the most effective treatment techniques with work demands and function early on in our treatment. The result is increase patient confidence, decrease fear, better conditioning and awareness of their condition to return back to work at the earliest time possible. Our patients are happy and always greateful for our comprehensive rehab program and education on preventing work injury incidents.

Dr. Diallo