Degree of Disability

One focus of the Health Partnership Program (HPP) is safely and effectively returning injured workers to work. To achieve that goal, you must work with BWC, the Managed Care Organization (MCO), and the physician to develop effective disability management strategies.

The costs of moderate or long-term disability go far beyond the measurable costs for medical care and compensation payments. Here are some of those costs:

• Decreased productivity;
• Employee replacement costs;
• Loss of employee morale;
• Loss of intellectual capital.

BWC and MCOs are committed to finding effective strategies to return injured workers to work safely and within reasonable time frames. The Degree of Disability Management (DoDM) model is one of the tools used for that purpose.

What is Degree of Disability Management (DoDM)?
The DoDM model was developed by BWC in conjunction with Milliman & Robertson, a nationally renowned health care consultant. DoDM is a proactive disability management strategy for returning injured workers to work.

DoDM takes into account both the injury and the injured worker’s occupation and establishes an optimal “well managed” return to work date for each injury/occupation combination.

For example, a construction worker who breaks a leg is expected to be off work longer than an office worker who breaks a leg, because of how the injury relates to his or her job. Likewise, the construction worker’s DoDM optimal return-to-work date will follow a longer period of disability than that of the office worker.