Workability: Helping patients manage their disability and preventing job loss

We will provide definitions and guidelines on how to assess disability and how to best support your patients with going out of work, staying out of work and returning to work. We will define vocational terminology that can assist in completing disability forms. We will look at how clinical findings translate into work restrictions, limitations and work capacity. We will emphasize the importance of clinical documentation and consistency of your clinical findings with restrictions, limitation and capacity stated. We will discuss how to complete disability forms efficiently to reduce clarifications and avoid repeated requests for information. We will also discuss policy provisions that your patient may encounter.

We will review the basics of disability, workability and the role of physiatrists or healthcare providers. Nearly all practicing physiatrists are asked to determine whether their patients have workability, if there are work-related restrictions/limitations and the duration of those restrictions and limitations. This session provides tools to assist in making those clinical/vocational decisions. We will discuss how to best support your patients throughout the disability process while also preserving your clinical time and work efficiency.