PTSC’s industrial rehabilitation program includes a wide variety of services for physicians who treat patients with work-related injuries; employees who need therapeutic rehabilitation following an on-the-job injury; employers who seek to minimize injuries among workers; and medical caseworkers who need to secure outpatient rehabilitation for injured workers.

What PTSC Can Do For…
Physicians: The clinical staff at PTSC is experienced in working with workers’ comp. claimants, their physicians, employers and caseworkers. We understand that getting injured workers well and back on the job is a top priority. You can expect to receive timely, typed documentation and computerized testing reports from PTSC. Learn more about our Functional Capacity Evaluations and work hardening, programs. Contact us for more information on BTE, Swim Ex, MedX, or to see sample reports of our FCEs. Click here to download a copy of our referral form.

Employees: PTSC’s team of skilled therapists can evaluate your work related injury, provide you and your physician with a plan for therapy, and work with you throughout your therapy program to ensure that you return to your pre-injured state as quickly and as safely as possible.

Case Workers: Physical Therapy Specialists Clinic, Inc. is a worker’s comp certified facility with three locations serving southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. Click here to see a map of our service area. We have state-of-art therapeutic equipment and a highly trained staff. Click here to download a copy of our referral form.

Employers:  Recent ADA, EEOC and OSHA standards require employers to prevent unqualified workers from being placed in job positions where they pose a significant risk of injury to themselves or to others.  The certified WorkSTEPS clinicians at PTSC are trained and work with employers to prevent injuries through functional employment testing.  They are also licensed and experienced in working with employers who have workers’ comp injury claims. Our staff works closely with physicians to get workers back to work in a timely fashion and as cost effectively as possible. While injured workers may travel to Springfield, Columbia, Rolla or Little Rock for doctor’s appointments, they can receive their outpatient therapy close to home at one of PTSC’s conveniently located clinics in West Plains, Mo., or Mountain Grove, Mo.

Functional Employment Testing

PTSC offers a number of proactive programs to employers who wish to reduce the incidence of work-related injuries and to improve production. Upon thoroughly evaluating a company’s needs, PTSC may recommend a variety of employment tests.  In a manufacturing setting, for example, some job duties require heavy lifting or repetitive motion or both. It is important to place the right employees in those positions. Results from a job analysis and functional employment assessment will provide an employer with a list of the essential duties required for the job and the objective measurements of a given employee’s physical suitability for a particular job function. Matching employees to job duties can help prevent injuries, increase productivity and improve employee job satisfaction, which will all contribute to employer savings.

Return to Work Program

Essential to an injured worker's successful return to work is adequate preparation and quantitative testing to determine the worker's ability to perform essential job functions.  The Return to Work Program at PTSC offers employers, physicians, and insurance caseworkers the information they need to effectively close a case and get the worker back to work. 

Employees who have been absent from work for a long period of time, employees recovering from illness or injury, employees changing job duties, or employees who have ongoing physical limitations can benefit from a return to work program.  This program can help prepare employees for the physical requirements of the particular job whether driving a truck, lifting heavy objects, performing repetitive motion activities such as those done on an assembly line or simply standing for long periods.

The return to work program is designed to get employees ‘in shape’ for work and may include:

-Work Conditioning:

• Limited endurance exercise, stretching, strengthening and general functional activities
• Periodic fit for duty tests

-Work Hardening:

• Progressive physical demands leading up to full job simulation
• HPeriodic fit for duty tests
• Functional capacity evaluation

The Baltimore Therapeutic Equipment work simulator is often used during the return to work program and provides computerized reports of workers’ progress and limitations.

Functional Capacity Evaluation

PTSC is a licensed provider of the WorkSTEPS functional capacity evaluation (FCE).  

These comprehensive FCEs provide physicians, insurance caseworkers, litigators and patients with a variety of detailed or summary reports which include quantified results as well as recommend-ations for further treatment options, if indicated.  The WorkSTEPS FCE protocol is highly regarded amont the medical community and is fully compliant with all state and federal employment regulations.

An FCE is an objective test used to determine a person’s physical ability to perform tasks. The test can be used to determine a persons’ physical limitations immediately following an injury, or before or after therapy or work hardening. The test objectively measure’s a person’s effort, strength, range of motion, endurance, flexibility, etc. Limitations in a person’s physical abilities may warrant physical therapy, occupational therapy, work hardening, or other treatment or accommodations.

Ergonomics Assessment
If you would like a free initial consultation with an ergonomics specialist, call (417) 256-5669 to schedule an appointment. After your initial discussion, the staff at PTSC will present you with a proposal detailing the ergonomics assessment services that could most benefit your company. Click here to learn more about ergonomics and occupational therapy.

A PTSC ergonomics specialist is someone specifically trained to perform the following services:

• Identify hazards at the work site
• Recommend work site or job task changes in order to prevent injury
• Train employees and supervisors on injury prevention and reporting methods
• Make recommendations according to proposed OSHA standards

Safety Training
PTSC offers safety-training programs to groups of employees or managers. Topics include:

• How to Reduce the Risk of Back Injuries
• How to Perform Warm-Up and Stretching Exercises to Prevent Injury
• How to Spot Potential Job Site Health Hazards (for managers only)

 

PTSC will send a representative to your club, organization, school or health care clinic to give a presentation on any service offered at PTSC. Call
(417) 256-5669.