St. Camillus’ approach to workplace injuries
97% success rate in returning employees
As in its innovative approach to injury prevention, St. Camillus Health and Rehabilitation Center in Syracuse, NY, is seeing big results in its approach to handling injured employees. The program combines tight medical management with a light duty program. The goal is to keep injured employees working while receiving necessary treatment, physical therapy, and rehabilitation at St. Camillus.
Last year 97% of the hospital’s injured employees returned to full duty as a result of this approach, says Gina Emerson, OTR/L, risk manager for St. Camillus.
Emerson acts as a team leader in the program. Also on her team is a member of the facility’s human resources department, who handles the benefits side of the injury; a registered nurse, who coordinates care and communication with doctors; and physical therapists and occupational therapists, who help rehabilitate the injured employee and provide additional training about injury prevention.
When an employee is injured, he or she has 24 hours to complete an incident report. The report is routed first to Emerson and then to the care manager, who makes the first contact with the injured employee and is responsible for periodic follow up on the employee’s progress. Although New York municipal law allows injured workers to choose their own doctors, Emerson found that many of St. Camillus’ employees did not have a personal physician.
As part of its workers’ compensation program, St. Camillus’ own staff physicians and therapists work with the employees and hospital to treat the injury while allowing employees to continue working in a capacity that is consistent with the treatment plans.
Under the light duty program, injured workers (with doctor’s approval) are reassigned to a job that will accommodate their injuries. Emerson tries to keep the reassignments in the employee’s department to limit the amount of job retraining required. But if that is not possible, she tries to place them anywhere in the facility during their rehabilitation. So, for example, a maintenance employee who is restricted from lifting could answer telephones until the doctor approved his return to full duty.
Emerson also has built incentives into the light duty program to encourage employee participation, which by law is voluntary. The primary incentive is monetary. Injured employees on light duty still receive their full salaries. These employees also can attend physical therapy and exercise programs as part of their work shifts. Employees injured at home also are allowed to participate in the light duty program.
Emerson says this approach not only encourages workers to fully rehabilitate their injuries, but also allows her to monitor their progress so they can return to work as soon as possible. "It is a very nonthreatening environment," she says.
St. Camillus does place a three-month limit on the time an employee can work light duty. In practice, most employees’ light duty averages just two weeks.
"As long as they continue to show physical, progressive improvement, they can stay on light duty because our ultimate goal is to get them to come back to full duty," Emerson says.
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