Affiliations: Department of Occupational Therapy, Western Michigan
University, Kalamazoo, MI 49006-5567, USA | Innovative Injury Prevention, Waterford, MI, USA
Note: [] Ph.D., OTR, Dept. of Occupational Therapy, Western Michigan
University, 1903 West Michigan, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA. Tel.: +1 616 387
7239; Fax: +1 616 387 7262; E-mail: dhazel@wmich.edu
Abstract: This paper presents the results of a telephone survey of workers'
compensation carriers, addressing how occupational therapy work programs can
best meet these carriers' needs. Fifty percent of the market share of workers'
compensation carriers in Michigan participated in the survey. Survey results
indicated that workers' compensation carriers found Functional Capacity
Evaluations, job analyses, and work hardening to be important work
rehabilitation services. A significant portion of the respondents (88%) that
they recognized the need for clinically successful work rehabilitation programs
and indicated that if they had return to work rates for different providers,
they would utilize providers that had the most successful outcome data in a
specific geographical area. Occupational therapists can use these survey
results to improve their services and communication with insurance to ensure
that injured workers will continue to have access to the efficacious
interventions occupational therapists provide in work rehabilitation.
Keywords: occupational therapy, work rehabilitation, return-to-work, outcome data
