Issue:
HCPs engage in the RTW process in multiple ways. Their evaluations of worker capability/impairment, their advice and recommendations for treatments and on the RTW have a significant impact on claim management practices, recovery and RTW in workers compensation boards.. The study would fill an important gap in knowledge about the roles, interactions and engagement of HCPs in managing a worker’s RTW.
Objectives:
The study would be conducted in four workers compensation jurisdictions: Manitoba, British Columbia, Ontario and Newfoundland and would consist of the following activities:
• Identify and analyze policies, programs, guidelines, forms and protocols developed by workers compensation boards that facilitate the engagement of HCPs’ in the RTW process. This phase of the study would include a review of relevant materials from other income replacement programs;
• Interview senior policy makers to determine the approach, benefits and challenges in the RTW process; and
• Interview HCPs, about their role in the RTW process, the challenges in their interaction with the workers compensation boards, injured workers, employers, and other HCPs.
Anticipated Results:
The study’s outcomes will include: an inventory of tools, programs and information used to facilitate HCP engagement in the RTW process for injured workers, case studies of the interviews with senior policy makers on the RTW process, and analysis of the experiences of HCPs with the RTW process in the four jurisdictions studied. The study’s findings would shed light on HCPs and their challenges with RTW planning, would likely result in better communication tools for HCPs and result in more cooperation and successful RTW.
Investigators:
Agnieszka Kosny, Institute for Work and Health
