Work-Related Injuries
Treatment for most work-related injuries to the low back, neck, hands (CTS) cost the state billions of dollars annually. The financial burden continues to escalate if one includes time-loss from work and disability payments. Greater than 98% of injured workers don’t require surgery nor is unnecessary and expensive diagnostic testing. What they need quality, knowledgeable, focused and cost-effective rehabilitative care that emphasis’s early return to work as a standard part of the treatment program.
How Can PPMRC Help?
The Physiatric Pain & Medical Rehabilitation Clinic is a full-service rehabilitation clinic that is capable of performing initial comprehensive consultative evaluations, limited physical therapy modalities and patient-specific stretching and strengthening and aerobic conditioning services for injured workers. We also perform Nerve Conduction Studies and Needle EMG’s to assist in clarifying a difficult clinical picture for the workers’ compensation insurance carriers.
Physiatrist (Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Physician) are board certified Neuro-Musculoskeletal experts that are the cost-effective answer to the non-operative injuries sustained by the injured worker that require rehabilitation. Why do you ask?
- Physiatrists are uniquely qualified to perform a comprehensive history and physical examinations required of the injured worker.
- The physiatrist is skilled at ordering and supervising patient-specific treatment programs that are cost-effective (modalities and stretching and strengthening exercises) that can reduce patients pain in a matter of months vs. years of treatment in some cases.
- Physiatrist believes in the shared return to work philosophy early in the course of rehabilitation as it promotes positive patient self-image and limits long term disability.
- Physiatrists are experts at assessing job restrictions to limit further injury and prolonged disability and if the patients’ medical condition is severe or reveals a fracture we will refer patients to the appropriate surgical specialty.
- Physiatrists are trained in residency to perform diagnostic NCV/EMG and therapeutic trigger point injections to facilitate aggressive pain relief.
- Physiatrist frequently provides rehabilitation to all joints including but not limited to the neck, low back, knee, ankle, shoulder and wrist injuries.
- Physiatrist work closely with adjusters, nurse case manager and employers to limit multiple unnecessary referral to other providers such as(Orthopedic Surgeon, for initial non operative musculoskeletal evaluations, Neurologist for traumatic brain injury or Nerve Conduction Studies/Needle EMG, Physical Therapy centers that are staffed with physical therapist creating and directing the plan of care, instead of medical doctors board certified in rehabilitation(Physiatrist) that can directly initiate and coordinate as well as supervise all of the patients treatments. All of which saves the insurance carriers a lot of money and streamlines the patients care, and provides one point of contact to coordinate all patient’s needs.