What is an Impairment Rating?
Impairment Rating is a measure of the loss of function due to the injury the patient sustained. In order to perform an Impairment Rating a medical provider must be Level II Accredited through the State of Colorado Division of Workers’ Compensation. The medical provider performing the Impairment Rating will review the patient medical record and may even take range-of-motion measurements from both the patients injured and non-injured body parts. Using the AMA Guidelines to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, the provider will determine the disability from the injury.
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What is Maintenance Care?
Many patients will continue to improve after their case has been placed at Maximal Medical Improvement (MMI). It is common for a medical provider overseeing a patient’s case to assign Maintenance Care. Maintenance Care is additional treatment that will occur after the patient is placed at MMI and is intended to help maintain the patient’s level of recovery or functional status. Maintenance Care may include a gym membership with specific exercises to complete, physical therapy, follow-up visits with a medical provider or additional treatment that can be performed.
Maintenance Care can be a major step in maintaining and even continuing to build on the gains achieved during active treatment.
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The health and wellness of our patients always comes first. We partner with our patients to return them back to work quickly and safely.
Our physician-only model ensures that our patients only receive the highest level of care while expediting treatment and recovery.
We keep you informed of your employee’s progress throughout the claim and partner with you to create a treatment plan that incorporates work activities.
Our Level II Accredited Physicians adhere to the DOWC Treatment Guidelines and work with claim managers to expedite treatment resulting in shorter claim duration and reduced claim
cost.
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Workplace Safety
A safe workplace starts by being free of drugs and alcohol. Investing in a drug and alcohol screening program throughout the employment process helps limit the risk of workplace injury, saving time and money.
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Risk Management
Reduce your companies’ long-term risk by tracking your employee’s health and fitness. With pre-employment and annual hearing testing, TB screening, OSHA testing, and fitness-for-duty evaluations helping to make sure that your employee’s health is prioritized.
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Improve Productivity
A healthy employee is a productive employee. When you keep your workforce healthy yolu minimize days lost to illness and injury, we help keep your workforce healthy and on-the-job.
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Authorization Services
Injury Care Associates makes receiving services easy. We accept walk-ins as well as scheduled appointments. Please complete the Employer Authorization located on our website, linked below, to specify the services you would like Injury Care Associates to perform.
Injury Care Associates accepts Authorizations via the electronic submission on our site, via telephone, or you can download a copy of our Employer Authorization Form and fax it to the clinic or have your employee bring it with them to the clinic. If your employee arrives at the clinic without an Employer Authorization, we will contact you to verify the services you need performed to ensure complete and accurate service delivery.
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Still have staff working from home?
Know what to do if an employee is injured while working from home.
The first thing to do is to assess the situation. If the injury is not life or limb threatening, immediately notify your supervisor or human resources representative that you sustained an injury. You will likely be directed to fill out a First Report of Injury or Incident Report. After you have provided your employer or human resources representative with your incident report, you should be provided with a list of Designated Medical Providers. The State of Colorado has resources available to help employers and workers together navigate work-related injuries and illnesses.
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Have a question?
If you have a question that we did not answer in our FAQ or want to learn more about how Injury Care Associates can help your business with providing worker’s compensation benefits, complete the form on our website, linked below, or call the Injury Care Associates clinic that is close to you listed on our site.
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The patient needs to help facilitate communication between the medical provider and the employer. After every visit with the medical provider overseeing the patient’s treatment, the patient will receive a summary of the visit with work restrictions, follow up visits, and other valuable information for the employer to be aware of. The patient will be given 2 copies of this report. The first copy is for the patient’s personal records. The second report is to be given to their immediate supervisor upon the patients return to work. This is critical to make sure every party involved in the patient’s recovery is given the same information regarding the needs of the patient. If information regarding a patient's restrictions, follow-up visits, referrals, or work status is not communicated in a timely manner, it becomes difficult to effectively manage a patient’s recovery.
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Equally important to arriving at appointments and following the medical provider’s treatment plan is communication between the medical provider and patient. Whether treatments are effective or not helping, pain levels throughout the day or the patient’s functional status and state of mind are all important pieces of information the medical provider needs to effectively manage a claim. If the patient does not communicate essential information to the medical provider, it is difficult for the medical provider to determine if the treatment plan is appropriate. Additionally, information surrounding the patient’s injury is important as well. Whether or not an employer is accommodating work restrictions, if the patient has experienced a life changing event, or, if the patient is feeling depressed because of their injury. All of this is essential information that needs to be shared with your medical provider.
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Patients play a very large role in the treatment of work-related injuries. Following an injury, the patient will work with the medical provider managing the patient’s claim to determine a treatment plan to achieve specific functional goals that the patient and provider have set. To achieve a positive outcome, it is important that the patient adhere to the treatment plan the medical provider has prescribed. This means taking medications as directed, arriving for and participating in prescribed treatments such as physical therapy, and adhering to assigned work restriction at all times. It is important for patients to note that work restrictions are in effect 24/7, not just during work hours. Work restrictions are in place to protect the patient and support the body throughout the recovery process. When restrictions are not followed, the patient is at risk of causing additional damage to the injured area and prolonging the recovery process.
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Temperatures in Colorado have dropped drastically overnight! We all know what this means… ice and frost. Be careful on icy roads and walk paths to prevent any kind of accidents that could lead to injury. When temperatures begin to warm up, keep in mind to watch out for melting snow that could lead to further accidents if you’re not careful. It’s crucial to stay up to date on what the weather is looking like in your area so you can stay prepared this Fall and Winter seasons.
Stay warm, and stay safe!
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Tips for businesses as less restrictions are being enforced:
Don’t let Covid-19 focus create laps in general employee safety. Have team meetings well observing social distancing to remind everyone of best practices.
Reduce public interaction whenever possible for your employees. This means if a team does not have to interact with the public, make sure they don’t.
Add additional sanitation practices throughout the day including providing cleaning supplies for hard surfaces, ensuring that bathrooms have hot water for handwashing, and providing hand sanitizer.
Reduce cross shift exposure. To help keep your whole staff healthy, keep shifts separated by the same groups. Essentially, create teams so that only the same members of that team work together. This will reduce the probability of staff spreading germs if a team member gets sick.
Make sure that you have clear guidelines for all your employees on how to report if they have been exposed or are exhibiting symptoms.
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We provide our clients with the highest level of Workers’ Compensation service in the greater-Denver area. With a team of physicians and physical therapists specialized in the identification and treatment of work-related injuries, we can leverage that expertise to help you create a safe workplace and limit injury risk. Getting you back to work is our specialty.
Common resources that our clients find helpful are below and can be found on our website:
Colorado Division of Workers’ Compensation
DOWC Injured Worker Guide
DOWC Medical Treatment Guidelines
Designating a Medical Provider
Workers’ Compensation Insurance Coverage Resources
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With Covid-19 still being a concern for many businesses, we want to let you know that we are here continuing to provide your injury work assistance while ensuring that there is a limited interruption in treatment. However, there are a few items we want to make sure you are aware of as health concerns are still prevalent.
To ensure social distancing and the health of all our patients and our employees, we are maintaining a reduced number of patients allowed in the office at a time so be sure to call for an appointment.
We are NOT a testing center for Covid-19 so please do not send your employees to our office as they will NOT be admitted.
Our offices are still being regularly cleaned and sanitized to reduce the presence of microbials.
We are still conducting Telemedicine consultation when possible.
All surface areas are being cleaned and sanitized in between patient exams.
If you have any questions about how we are keeping your employees safe, please call our Denver office at (303) 531-4144
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By implementing a physical examination screening process, you can better screen candidates for pre-existing injuries, physical restrictions or other risks that would limit the candidate’s ability to successfully perform required job duties. While physical examinations are not designed to exclude individuals from employment, the process is intended to identify candidates that may not be physically qualified to perform the job, that may require accommodations or will have limitations assigned or restrictions on allowed activity. All of this is geared to make sure that you are aware of the physical status and capabilities of your workforce, allowing you to better manage a safe work environment.
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Physical examinations can be used by employers for several objectives. Depending on the unique needs of your business, our team can work with you to customize a physical examination protocol that is ADA compliant, cost-effective, sustainable and achieves a return on your investment.
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Investments in your employees’ health and workplace safety benefit employers in several ways:
Reduce the risk of injury or illness
Lower Worker’s Compensation costs
Direct treatment costs
Time away from work
Overall claim expense
Reduce lost-time from injured or sick employees
Improve workplace productivity
Increase employee engagement and retention
Our comprehensive Employee Health Services allow Injury Care Associates to partner with Colorado employers to create custom action plans to keep workplaces healthy and productive.
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What are the Colorado Medical Treatment Guidelines?
The Medical Treatment Guidelines are created by the Division of Workers’ Compensation and are written to ensure that all workers in the State of Colorado receive high quality, cost-effective care and that insurance companies, employers, and injured employees are not able to unduly influence the care received by the patient. The Medical Treatment Guidelines were created by stakeholders including medical providers, patients, employers, insurance companies, legal representatives and the State Division of Workers’ Compensation. Evidence-based medicine was used to determine how to best produce desired outcomes and return injured employees back to work while doing so at a reasonable cost and timeframe. All Injury Care Associates medical providers are familiar with and adhere to the Colorado Medical Treatment Guidelines.
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Because we specialize in Occupational Medicine, our physicians are more familiar with the types of injuries and illnesses commonly associated with work-related activities. This expertise allows our team of physicians to identify work-related injuries and illness early in the claim process and begin providing the treatment needed to get you Back to Work, Back to Life.
Identifying whether an injury or illness is work-related is a crucial and often overlooked part of a Workers’ Compensation claim. Failure to appropriately and accurately identify work-relatedness can lead to delays in treatment and unexpected costs. By having a physician, specialized in Occupational Medicine overseeing your claim, you receive better care, faster.
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We make a difference by delivering results.
It’s important that all parties involved play their part in the Workers’ Compensation process. The health and wellness of our patients always comes first. We partner with our patients to return them back to work quickly and safely. We keep you, the employer, informed of your employee’s progress throughout the claim and partner with you to create a treatment plan that incorporates work activities. Our physician-only model ensures that our patients only receive the highest level of care by our physician team while expediting treatment and recovery. Our Level II Accredited Physicians adhere to the DOWC Treatment Guidelines and work with claim managers to expedite treatment resulting in shorter claim duration and reduced claim cost.
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What to do if you think you may be sick:
Self Isolate. Stay at home and do not interact with the general public and limit interaction with family.
Contact your Primary Care Provider (PCP) or call a local Urgent Care or Emergency Department for guidance.
Where to get tested:
Many healthcare facilities along with the City and County of Denver are offering Covid-19 testing. Visit the City of Denver Covid-19 Testing Page for resources and guidance.
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Our Employee Health Services include:
Physical Examinations (DOT Physicals, Pre-Employment Exams)
Drug and Alcohol Testing
Vaccines and Immunological Testing
Range-of-Motion Testing
Strength and Workplace Conditioning
Injury Prevention
Head to our website to learn more!
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Often, when an employee becomes sick due to chemical or pathogen exposure at work, a team of medical specialists is required to investigate the situation. It is critical to determine if the illness is related to work activities or the work environment or, if the illness is non-work-related in nature. Without the proper physician involvement and coordinated claim management services offered by Injury Care Associates, workers may not receive the appropriate treatment or be eligible for benefits within the Workers’ Compensation system.
Let us help you, when results matter
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By implementing a physical examination screening process, you can better screen candidates for pre-existing injuries, physical restrictions or other risks that would limit the candidate’s ability to successfully perform required job duties. While physical examinations are not designed to exclude individuals from employment, the process is intended to identify candidates that may not be physically qualified to perform the job, that may require accommodations or will have limitations assigned or restrictions on allowed activity. All of this is geared to make sure that you are aware of the physical status and capabilities of your workforce, allowing you to better manage a safe work environment.
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Establish a Baseline for your Employees’ Health. Injury Care Associates offers a comprehensive line of physical examination services and the ability to customize screening based on your specific needs. Our physicians strive to identify pre-existing injuries, limit injury risk and make sure your team is physically capable of performing their job. Physical examinations can be used by employers for several objectives. Depending on the unique needs of your business, our team can work with you to customize a physical examination protocol that is ADA compliant, cost-effective, sustainable and achieves a return on your investment.
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http://ow.ly/1Ido50Doh3O
Investments in your employees’ health and workplace safety benefit employers in several ways:
Reduce the risk of injury or illness
Lower Worker’s Compensation costs
Direct treatment costs
Time away from work
Overall claim expense
Reduce lost-time from injured or sick employees
Improve workplace productivity
Increase employee engagement and retention
Our comprehensive Employee Health Services allow Injury Care Associates to partner with Colorado employers to create custom action plans to keep workplaces healthy and productive.
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Aside from specializing in the diagnosis, treatment and management of Workers’ Compensation claims, Injury Care Associates also provides comprehensive Employee Health Services. By partnering with Colorado employers, we help maintain safe and productive workplaces. Our team of medical professionals can help you implement a workplace safety program specific to your industry and needs. From drug and alcohol testing and physical examination to on-site safety training, Injury Care Associates is your Occupational Medicine partner.
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