Disability Management/Return to
Work: Raising the Bar:
Next Generation RTW Programs, Best
Practices and New Ideas That Actually Work
Disability
Management/Return to Work:
|
Executive Summary
Return to work is no longer just about saving workers’ compensation dollars. Employers today are facing disability management challenges that were unforeseen just a decade ago. An aging workforce, coupled with a significant labor and skill shortage, have brought return to work out of the loss control closet and placed squarely in the company boardroom. Compliance with disability rights laws has demanded that return to work programs be administered in a consistent and non-discriminatory manner. Corporate occupational and non-occupational employee-related disability expenses are often one of the top three costs of doing business today. Managing these expenses has become for many companies, the difference between a year-end profit and a year-end loss. The next generation of return to work programs raises the bar for everyone involved in the process. Employers are raising the bar by turning what used to be a generalized return to work effort into a structured program with designated authority and responsibilities. Medical care providers are having the bar raised by being challenged to become an active partner in the return to work process. Disability and case management professionals are having the bar raised by the challenge of cutting down the paperwork and the lag time in communications with all parties. Employees are having the bar raised to make them as responsible for their return to work as they are for their own safety.
A day with Richard Pimentel will explore the next generation of return to work programs for:
Employers:
• Developing consistency between policy and procedures and creating a team approach to return to work.
Medical care providers:
• Utilizing the therapeutic potentials of next generation return to work programs.
Disability management and return to work specialists:
• Improved communication with medical care providers.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this seminar you will be able to:
• Identify the four evolutionary stages of RTW program policies from punitive light duty to therapeutic transitional employment assignments.
• Identify employer internal disincentives for the return to work process and develop ways to remove these disincentives and create incentives in their place.
• Describe short and long-term measurement indices for a successful RTW program.
• Identify methods for expediting appropriate cooperative responses from medical care providers and employers in the return to work process.
• Develop strategies to overcome resistance to return to work at the supervisor, management and employee level in employer organizations.
Distinguished Faculty
Richard Pimentel
is a nationally renowned expert on Disability Management, Job Recruitment, Job Retention, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Attitude Change. He is not only technically proficient, he is also an exceptional communicator whose audiences praise his ability to combine information, humor, metaphor, analogy and storytelling into an informative whole that does not just present the information, but really communicates it in a memorable fashion. He has designed and implemented return to work systems for the private sector and government employers throughout the country. He has pioneered proactive risk management, return to work and equal employment opportunity (EEO) programs to generate both cost-savings and enduring attitudinal changes in corporate culture. His training has not only successfully enabled managers and supervisors to participate in cost reduction initiatives and implementation of policies and procedures to reduce work site accidents and re-injuries, but has also helped employers dispel stereotypes and embrace diversity.Tuition
The $395 tuition includes a continental breakfast, breaks, lunch with faculty, a detailed manual which can be retained as a bookshelf reference, and a dynamic learning experience.
Click here for registration information.
Continuing Education Information
Case Managers: 7.0 contact hours of continuing education for Case Managers have been applied for from the Commission for Case Manager Certification, Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Disability Specialists: 7.0 contact hours of continuing education for Disability Specialists have been applied for from the Commission for Disability Management Specialists Commission, Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Physicians: SEAK, Inc. is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. SEAK, Inc. designates this educational activity for a maximum of 6.5 AMA PRA Category 1™ Credits. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Rehabilitation Counselors: 7.0 contact hours of continuing education hours for Rehabilitation Counselors have been applied for from the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification, Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Rehabilitation Nurses: This program will be accepted for 6.5 60-minute contact hours of credit for ARN certification. Submit certificate. Nurses: To successfully complete a program and receive contact hours you must: 1) register in, 2) be present for the period of time you are awarded contact hours, 3) complete the evaluation. Occupational Health Nurses: 6.5 60-minute contact hours for continuing education in nursing has been applied for through the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. (AAOHN). AAOHN is an accredited approver of continuing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Scheduleclick here to view the complete schedule
Monday, July 16, 2007
7:30-8:00Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:00-8:15Workshop
Introductions
8:15-9:15The Evolution of
RTW from Light Duty to Disability Management
• How employers
changing needs have influenced return to work systems.
• Disability rights and privacy legislation.
• Integrating non-occupational illness and injuries into corporate
disability management.
• Using the Human Resources “fair and consistent” model in return to
work efforts.
9:15-10:30Policy vs.
Procedure in Disability Management Programs: Dealing with
Supervisor and Management Attitudes
• Common myths and
prejudices about return to work programs.
• Delegating responsibility and authority.
• Identifying and correcting built-in corporate disincentives for
return to work.
10:30-10:45BREAK &
NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY
10:45-11:15Making Medical
Care Providers Part of the Team
• “To pay or
not to pay (for information you need) that is the question.”
• Work as therapy.
• Why functional limitation forms do not work.
• Developing a return to work proposal.
11:15-12:00Increasing the
Quality of the Relationship with the Injured Employee
• Immediately after
the injury.
• Including the injured employee in the transitional employment
assignment design.
• Monitoring the employee’s progress in the transitional employment
assignment.
• Maintaining the relationship when the injured employee is at home.
12:00-1:00LUNCH PROVIDED WITH FACULTY
1:00-2:30Disability
Management "Best Practices" that Really Work
• Policies and
procedures.
• Delegating return to work authority between employers and
disability management professionals.
• Direct contact between employers and medical care providers.
• Supervisor and employee training.
• Rolling the program out.
• Continuing technical assistance/support.
• “Bumps in the road” likely return to work problems and how not to
panic.
• “Th e Seven Year Itch” why good programs suddenly fail after years
of success.
2:30-3:00A New Slant of
Post Offer Pre-employment Physicals
• How to
“legally” withdraw a conditional job offer of an accident waiting to
happen.
3:00-3:15BREAK & NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY
3:15-3:45Balancing the
Goal of Closing the Claim with the Goal of Getting Injured Employees
Back to Work
• Is closing the claim
a means to an end or an end unto itself?
• How to close a claim and still respect yourself in the morning.
3:45-4:00Summary, questions and evaluation