Medical & Rehabilitation is Ireland’s premier medical case management company specialising in rehabilitation and return to work planning for injured or ill employees. Since 1999, MR has successfully medically and vocationally rehabilitated over two thousand employees across variuos industries.
This pro-active approach to managing employee absence is known as medical case management and its aim is to restore the employee to their pre-injury/illness health and employment status as effectively as possible.
This process helps to contain many of the costs associated with ongoing absence from work.
Why case management?
Studies have shown that 75% of persons absent from work for 1 year and 90% for 2 years or more, do not return to productive employment. There are many reasons why a person may remain absent from work following illness or injury however the following contributory factors are present in many cases:
• Long waiting lists in public healthcare system resulting in a lack of timely medical intervention.
• Inability of the ill or injured person to afford the costs associated with private medical care.
• Lack of knowledge on the part of the ill/injured person of the medical care system thereby precluding access to the most appropriate interventions.
• Lack of formalised procedures to monitor and support individuals while absent.
All of these factors can contribute to delayed recovery to health and increase the likelihood that someone will fail to return to work.
Employee absence comes at a significant cost to the employer. This may include the need to recruit or retrain staff , the possiblity of reduced production quality or even lost production and consequent loss of orders and the significant management hours spent dealing with the situation.
What can medical & Rehabilitation do?
The Medical & Rehabilitation case management services allows emloyers to offer independent co-ordination of medical assistance to injured or ill employees at a time when they need it most, immediately.
It is widely recognised that a person’s medical situation and long term prognosis can be improved if the appropriate medical treatment is given at the earliest opportunity. It is also clear that there may be concerns around the ill/injured party’s fitness to return to work which need to be addressed during the rehabilitation process to enable them to safely return to their original job or find alternative employment.
MR’s case managers are fully qualified medical professionals familiar with the Irish healthcare system and experienced in navigating the many obstacles which may impede an individual’s ability to access appropriate timely care and subsequent return to work.
How does it work?
Once a referral is made to MR, the case manager contacts the ill/injured person to gain their written consent. This consent allows us to pro-actively solicit and co-ordinate treatment as recommended by the person’s medical team. This may involve arranging accelerated diagnostics, second opinions or specialist treatments. Some of the most common interventions we co-ordinate are physiotherapy, consultant appointments, x-rays, scans and counselling.
Treatment recommendations are received in writing by the case manager who agrees these costs with the employer and ensures that the employee is attending and benefiting from treatment. Throughout the process, the MR case manager is a central point of contact liaising with all relevant parties: ie employee, medical practitioners and employer, thus providing continuing clarity as to the ill/injured party’s recovery and potential return to work status.
While regular updates are provided to the employer, MR medical case managers are bound by their codes of professional conduct. Treament reports received during the course of case management are only shared with the employee’s medical team as part of the case management process.
What are the outcomes?
MR’s service delivers benefits to both the injured or ill employee and the employer. A partnership approach to employee care ensures maximum recovery, early return to work and all round cost savings.
The primary benefits to the employer include the retention of valuable human resources, improved employee relations, reduced litigation and adversity. There are also significant cost benefits to the employer with a reduction of both direct and indirect costs.
The primary benefit for the employee is the opportunity to avail of optimum medical care as directed by their own medical team without the financial overhead. The vocational aspect is also critical in facilitating return to work; all evidence indicates that the longer an individual is out of work, the less likely they are to get back to work. MR’s specialised intervention with relevant stakeholders can successfully overcome these barriers.
Contact Us:
Please contact Medical & Rehabilitation Ireland to find out more about how our specialist medical case management service can positively contribute to managing absence in the workplace.
Contact:
Medical & Rehabilitation Ireland
Chartis House
Merrion Road
Dublin 4
Ireland
Tel: +353 1 208 1468
Email:MRireland.ie@chartisinsurance.com