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Return-to-work initiatives
One of the things that sets the Health Partnership Program (HPP) apart from traditional managed-care programs is the emphasis
on return to work. Most injured workers return to work without any assistance, but some require more medical care, resulting
in longer recovery and time away from work. Some also require intensive return-to-work (RTW) and vocational services.
The optimal RTW model is a tool for measuring RTW outcomes; BWC implemented this model in 1999. It is an innovative model, developed by a
national health-care consultant, which measures success and establishes an optimal RTW date at the individual level. For
example, a construction worker who breaks a leg is expected to be off work longer than an office worker with the same injury
because of how the injury relates to his or her job.
BWC and the managed care organizations (MCOs) recognize these differences and plan the best course for the individual worker. The optimal RTW date assists BWC and the
MCOs in working with the employer, injured worker and physician to set expectations for return to
work. As a critical player in HPP design, providers must understand the basis and goals of the return-to-work strategy and
optimal RTW date, and help set RTW expectations for the injured worker. In addition, providers need to manage return office
visits and treatment plans with the optimal RTW date in mind, enabling injured workers to work (with restrictions, if necessary)
as soon as medically feasible.
Our goal is to make Ohio the leader in return to work. To accomplish our goal, we now provide a mandatory 30-day RTW
assessment of lost-time claims that go more than 30 days past the optimal RTW date without the injured worker returning to
the job. We also provide additional services to injured workers with medical-only claims and grants to help employers
develop transitional work programs. And we've made it easier for injured workers to participate in vocational rehabilitation
programs by streamlining administrative processes and documentation requirements.
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