How to Correctly Document Your Patient’s Job Description

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Getting A Job Description Is A Hassle

Yes it is.

Imagine This

Adjuster M.A. from a major insurance carrier writes in today after reviewing a RateFast PR-4 report created on one of her injured workers. The worker is a firefighter who has been provided shoulder limitations precluding lifting and carrying more than 10 pounds, no pushing or pulling more than 11-25 pounds, no climbing ladders and no crawling. The report comments that, “Ability to return to her usual occupation is deferred pending the carrier providing a formal job description (RU 91 Format)”.

It’s obvious this injured worker cannot return to their job… Or is it?

When we talk about job activities, what people are expected to do, and what they don’t do all the time is casually listed in the clinic, but it’s what written down in the official job description that counts.

The Real Question

An accurate job description is actually a pretty rare event in the impairment report writing business. Probably less than 5% of claims have a usable job description. This is frustrating because one of the most important questions to be answered in a medical legal report or PR-4 report is, “Can the employee return to their job?”

Employees Don’t Know What Their Jobs Are

An employee’s understanding of his or her job is often very different than the official job description. A job description may include an activity that is rarely required, but is considered essential to perform the job safety and correctly.

…And Employers Don’t Either

To cause further frustration, the employer will sometimes provide the carrier an “administrative” job description and not an actual physical activity job description (RU 91). An administrative job description talks about job requirements such as personal temperament, educational requirements, and ability to concentrate, complete tasks etc. For orthopedic injuries, an administrative job description doesn’t cut it.

Get the RU 91

The RU 91 format is a systematic, standardized review of physical activities, specific weights and endurance requirements that guide the medical examiner. It should also be signed by both the employee and employer to confirm agreement.

And let’s not forget the Americans with Disability Act. Here it is required for an employer to make “reasonable accommodations” for employees with disability for the essential activities of the job. Think about this… How can we do that without looking at an actual job description? The answer: we can’t.

So, let’s get back to our adjuster’s question. The most correct approach for return to work opinion is based on a job description review. It may or may not change the opinions of the medical examiner, but everyone will have a better understanding of the final determination about return to work if there is a firm guideline cited in the report (RU91). Yep, we need the job description to give a correct and complete opinion on the return to work evaluation.

This simple systematic approach to thinking about the job description will pay dividends in the way of avoiding legal delay and confusion in the management of claim.

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What You Need to Know About Percentages in Work Comp

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The AMA Guides are full of percentages and a strong conceptual understanding of “percentage” is essential. We know there may be those of you among us who don’t care for math or who downright don’t like it. Not to worry, the concept of percentage is a fun and easy topic when introduced properly.

There is a hierarchy of percentage values in the AMA Guides 5th Edition. For example the AMA guides are calculated in digits impairment, hand impairment, upper extremity impairment, whole person impairment. Likewise foot impairment, and lower extremity impairment. We would like to untap the sometimes confusing concepts of percentages.

On behalf of Rate Fast we have today Steve Williams who is a science and math educator at Santa Rosa Accelerated Charter School. Sit back, relax, and take a front row seat in the class as we explore a better understanding of percentage.

Listen to our special lecture by clicking the link below:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/40853549/LowDownOnPercentages.m4a

The Importance of Activities of Daily Living

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Activities of Daily Living are among the most neglected topics to be reported in impairment reports. The AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment Fifth Edition clearly defines activiites of daily living (ADLs) as essential for understanding the impact and creation of impairment ratings (Chapter 1; Philosophy, Purpose, and Appropriate Use of the Guides).  Table 1-2 Page 4 lists 34 defined activities of daily living.

Every impairment report created under the AMA Guides should have a clear review of all 34 ADLs. The report should indicate positive and negative responses. It is essential to understand that the goal of the ADL is not to identify functional issues in the workplace. The goal is actually quite the opposite. The goal is to identify an individual’s ability to perform “common activities of daily living (ADL), excluding work.” (Page 4). This allows all individuals to be evaluated on a common basis, the actives necessary in daily living. Remember, this table has nothing to do with the work place.

ADLs have various levels of impact on the impairment calculations depending on the chapter in the Guides 5th Edition. In Chapter 8, The Skin, ADLs are used as primary determination for impairment class assignment (Table 8-2 Page 178). In Chapter 15, The Spine, ADLs are used to adjust the impairment value range (Section 15.4, Page 384). In Chapter 16, Upper Extremity, ADLs are used very little in the rating methods.

Finally, remember as you view activities of daily living some simply cause pain but do not disrupt an activity. Other times the the condition may completely preclude an activity. A well crafted impairment report will make these distinctions. Also, do not simply “write-off” some ADL activities as not relevant. For example, an individual with a shoulder injury may report difficulty with the activities of walking because of pain when the arm swings with the gait motion, or climbing stairs because of pain using the handrail. Traditionally we do not think of walking and climbing steps as being important with a shoulder injury.

A strong understanding of how the ADLs are used in the creation of impairment values will serve you well when discussing and analyzing report conclusions. Require reports to be standardized with this section, and use attention to detail in the ADL section to assess the level of detail that has gone into the report.

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Functional Limitations Explained

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There’s a lot of confusion and misconception about the terms of use of “work tolerance”, “work capacity” and “work restrictions”.  When we read impairment reports “work restrictions” tend to be the term utilized most frequently. Actually, the exact opposite is true.

We’re here to help set the record straight on definitions.

A Physician’s Guide to Return to Work (Talmage et al., 2005. A Physician’s Guide to Return to Work. AMA Press) offers useful definitions for these terms  to better describe and communicate these concepts.

Work tolerance is the most common of all work limitations encountered. Tolerance simply means the patient’s symptoms preclude them from participating in certain activities. For example, the employee may have a normal MRI of the shoulder, a normal range of shoulder motion on exam, yet pain symptoms preclude work at or above shoulder level height.

Work capacity is the second  most common of all work limitations encountered. Work capacity refers to a well defined underling medical condition which precludes the patient from performing an activity. In this example a patient with shoulder adhesive capsulitis may demonstrate specific findings on MRI and the condition may also be verified on physical exam testing. For example, the patient may have mechanical limitation preventing motion of the shoulder above 90 degrees. In this situation patient has a medical capacity which limits working at or above shoulder level height.

Work restrictions are the least common of all work limitations encountered. Work restrictions are activities the patient can do, but should not perform because of the risk of significant injury or loss of life. For example,  the patient who has a seizure disorder may have a restriction precluding the driving of a car, because of the possibility of losing control of the vehicle.

We understand that the term “work restriction” has become a cultural term used in many administrative forms, however, inappropriate usage causes unnecessary confusion and delay. Begin using the correct terminology for tolerance, capacity and  restriction to more effective communication in reports and correspondence. Your reward will be faster and more accurate results.

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