When a disability management specialist starts at Bridges Health from other disability management organizations, they quickly discover a transformative difference in how they approach return-to-work planning: ErgoWorks PDA and Job Match software technology.
This powerful platform turns ambiguous, often stated as the “art” of case management, into a clear, “scientific process,” of matching injured workers to suitable employment with an evidence-based strategy.
Why? Because, when it comes to managing complex, multi-dimensional claims, the devil truly is in the details!
The Difference Maker: Absolute Clarity in Both Physical and Psychosocial Occupational Demands.
Case management has traditionally relied on subjective job descriptions, verbal reports from employers/managers, and judgment. While these elements remain important, in a true function-first assessment, Ergoworks is a unique opportunity to fill all the critical gaps in understanding own occupational demands through early identification of physical, psychosocial, and environmental demands. Worker abilities can then be matched directly to occupational demands, while clearly laying out the gaps and having focused accommodation discussions with a clear outline of the outcomes.
For experienced case managers joining Bridges Health, working towards accommodation discussions with employers has a new meaning, a function-first illustration to support the question – can you accommodate? Employers get a direct view of what the abilities are and a targeted accommodation strategy with clear discussion on what activities need to be accommodated, for how long and strategies that might work for them to consider.
Our data shows the evidence of managing longer-term, complex files to return-to-work outcomes. We have successfully returned workers to work within 12 weeks as expected, but we also have a track record of returning employees to work 24 to 52 weeks after injury, which can be a little more challenging with multi-condition situations.
From a return-to-work process point of view, accommodated duties, schedule, or permanent changes is often part of the discussion. However, without detailed occupational demands data and the ever-important connection to the worker capabilities – accommodation planning becomes guesswork, recovery timelines extended and costs will inevitably go up.
As an employer, if you’re looking for help on controlling costs, let Bridges Health demonstrate the Ergoworks difference, just like our new disability management specialist!
