Physical Therapy Treatment Programs

We appreciate how stressful managing worker’s compensation (WC) injuries can be for a hotel. While you’re concerned for your worker, you’re also worried about the impact his/her injury will have on the hotel’s ability to service its clientele. Here are questions you want to ask throughout the WC process and physical therapy treatments that your injured workers are receiving. The information you gather will put you back in control, and help get your injured workers back on the job with minimal chance of reinjury.

1. How quickly can my injured worker be put into the appropriate treatment program?

The faster your employee gets treatment the better. But it can take days, or even weeks, for an employee to see a doctor a physical therapist for an injury.

Then still more weeks, if he’s assigned additional treatment such as physical therapy.

2. How are your injured worker’s visits scheduled?

It generally falls to the injured employee to set them up. Depending on when the appointments are scheduled, they can disrupt your hotel’s work capacity. Especially if the employee is absent for long periods of time during a work shift. The treatment appointments can also be very spread out which makes it more likely that your employee will take longer to heal. It is better for someone to be actively managing your employee’s care plan.

3. Who will manage the case?

Knowing whom you can call to check in on your employee’s progress can be useful. You’ll be able to plan around her return to work by always knowing the status of her treatment. You can also estimate and provide performance feedback, if the employee is on light duty. Lastly, you can point out areas of concern about her job that might impact her treatment.

4. How can I monitor outcomes?

You should know what a healed employee looks like according to the experts. You will want to understand the process of her injury and recovery. It will allow you to see when she is better and monitor for the possibility of a reinjury. You could even see the signs of future injuries in the way other employees are performing tasks. If you can take note of these signs you can help prevent those injuries from happening.

5. Once a treatment plan is established, do you get to choose where your injured worker is having therapy?

Most of the time the answer is no. But if you can have a say in the location, choose one that’s effective for both your injured employee and your hotel. This is especially true if the employee is still working. In the case of physical therapy, the most cost-effective option also happens to be the most beneficial for healing: having a physical therapist come on-site. Otherwise, your employee may need to leave for an appointment during work hours.

6. Do you know the physical therapist your worker is seeing?

If you know who is treating your employee you can check them out. Make sure she is a reputable and licensed professional. And you can hold them more accountable for the treatment they provide.

7. Are they a specialist or a generalist?

The physical therapist should know the work requirements of your hotel’s employees. He should have experience successfully treating and rehabilitating people in a wide range of hotel job requirements.

8. How good is the therapist at rehabilitating injured workers?

Check the credentials of the assigned physical therapist. Ensure your employee’s safety. Make certain that your hotel isn’t at risk by dealing with a disreputable clinic. Find out if the therapist is an “expert” at treating worker’s comp injuries or a generalist. After all, you don’t go to a generalist doctor when you need heart surgery. It doesn’t make sense for your employees to be treated by a generalist when their injury is specific to their work environment.

9. Do they know what your injured workers’ job requirements are?

Most jobs, especially those in the hospitality injury, require unique and specialized movements of the body. They are repeated motions or positions needed to perform tasks on a regular basis. Such as flipping a mattress, vacuuming, carrying heavy trays, or pushing heavy carts. These tasks put a specific stress on the body. The therapist should understand these moves and adjust treatment according to the individual worker’s capacity.

10. How many therapy visits should you expect to pay for?

Some clinics, and patients continue therapy longer that needed. It’s a benefit to have a clear goal for the treatment. This includes an anticipated time-line for recovery. It’s not just about saving money, but about giving the employee the sense of closure and confidence that a clean bill of health can provide.

11. Can you call and speak to the therapist about the treatment your employee is receiving?

Yes, take advantage of the fact that your in-house therapist is there for two reasons: to heal the injured worker and to get them back to work quickly and efficiently AND to always provide adequate updates on the injured worker.

12. When is your employee getting treatment? Are appointment times flexible and convenient?

You should check to see if it's necessary for an employee to leave during work hours. There may be appointment times that suit the work schedule better. You don’t have to conform to the therapy provider’s preferred treatment time. Have the therapist conform to what’s convenient for you and your worker.

13. If the employee is still working, is he missing work to go to therapy sessions?

For an off-site therapy session, most workers are gone for about three hours, depending on the distance to the clinic. You may not be able to change an employee’s appointment. But a small amount of oversight can reduce the temptation on his part to increase the length and frequency of his absence. Check to see if the employee has an appointment and that he showed up for it on time. Then check to see that he made it back to work within a reasonable time after his appointment.

14. How much time will the worker be gone, in total, to get all treatments?

Knowing this figure will help when you’re calculating the cost of the injury. Look at the cost of lost work time for the injured employee. Also look at the transportation cost for that worker to and from treatment. Andlso look at the time it took you to rearrange the work schedule to cover for them. Those hidden costs are often overlooked.

15. How long will they be treated for? Will they have more therapy sessions than necessary?

Some employees and therapists will continue therapy until you say stop. It’s good to know how many sessions are initially prescribed. Then to know if additional sessions are needed and why. Understand at the beginning of the treatment plan what physical goals must be achieved in order for your worker to be healed or at least be back for light duty. The employee should be communicated with regularly and given the confidence to return to work without fear of reinjury.

16. Will the treatment be appropriate for the injury?

Treatment should promote healing and prevent future injuries. Talk to the therapist about your worker’s treatment plan. Understand what the physical goals are. Make sure the therapist is familiar with the specific physical requirements of the job. If possible, have them see the tasks performed on the hotel’s site, in the actual work environment. It does no good to return a worker only to the level of basic movements simply to have her return to work and be incapable of doing her job safely. It’s simply begging for another injury.

17. Do you know how long they’ll be away from work or on light duty?

This is a discussion for both the therapist and the manager. Between the two of you, decide, on the physical functions needed for light duty. Define what light duty is so that the injury isn't exacerbated. The discussion should include a timetable for when the employee can start light duty, what that specifically entails, and also the plan for when she will be able to return to work at full strength.

18. Have you discussed with the therapist the work your employee needs to be able to accomplish when he returns to work?

It’s a good idea to have regular check-ins with the therapist. Discuss the progress of the treatment and highlight any areas of weakness you’ve noted in your worker’s performance since the injury (if still on the job). The therapist should clearly understand the physical requirements of the job to which the worker will return.

19. When will your worker be well enough to come back to work? How do you define a healed injury?

Consider how you measure your workers’ job performance. Is there a metric you could use to confirm when an employee is back to full strength? There are companies out there which provide you with baseline tests to measure range of motion at the time the worker was hired so you know if/when they get injured on the job at a later date, what the company’s responsibility is and what the injured worker’s responsibility is. Those kind of metrics can be very valuable tools in saving you unnecessary rehab expenses and in getting your injured worker back to work faster.

20. What, if any, are the reinjury dangers?

Look for places you can tighten your safety processes. Look for ways to prevent repetitive motion type injuries. Invest in educating your workers to prevent future injuries. Best practices include having someone spot-check workers while they are on the job to correct their risky activities.

21. What are the chances your worker will get reinjured?

Some injuries reoccur because the worker’s strength never regains to the level it used to be. Yet with properly planned therapy, you can reduce the risk of her reinjury.

22. What can you do to minimize the risk of reinjury?

Ask the therapist for input on ways you can help the worker reduce the strain on the injured area. He may have a suggestion for performing a task in a safer, more effective manner.

The Right Knowledge Puts You Back in Control

We know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that there’s no way your TPA or therapy provider will give you any of this information. You might be right. But just because you’ve never had the information doesn’t mean you can’t get it when you ask. If your current provider can’t, (or won’t), give you this information, perhaps it’s time to consider an alternative method?

Whenever you travel there are always lots of options of routes to take. Dealing with worker’s compensation injuries is no different. Even if you’ve grown used to the same route. There are other ways. Faster, more convenient and effective ways that can put you back in control, instead of wringing your hands. For more information, download our report on How to Increase Your Hotel’s Return to Work Rate to 95%.