Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 20 - Labor › Part 2 - Mississippi Workers' Compensation Medical Fee Schedule › THERAPEUTIC SERVICES › Section 20-2-III - WORK HARDENING RULES

Current through June 25, 2024
A. Work Hardening
				Program Guidelines
1. Work hardening is an
				interdisciplinary, individualized, job or goal-specific program of activity
				with the goal of returning an injured patient to work. Work hardening programs
				use real or simulated work tasks and progressively graded conditioning
				exercises that are based on the individual's measured tolerances. Work
				hardening provides a transition between acute care and successful return to
				work and is designed to improve the bio-mechanical, neuromuscular, and
				cardiovascular functioning of the worker. Approval or certification must be
				based on whether the proposed work hardening program appears reasonably
				tailored to accomplish the stated goals.
a. A
				work hardening program must, at a minimum, have the following components:
* Development of strength and endurance of the individual in
				  relation to the return to work goal;
* Equipment and methods that quantify and measure strength
				  and conditioning levels, i.e., ergometers, dynamometers, treadmills, measured
				  walking tolerances;
* Commercial strength and exercise devices, free weights, and
				  circuit training. Goals for each worker are dependent on the demands of their
				  respective jobs;
* Simulation of the critical work demands, the tasks, and the
				  environment of the job to which the worker will return. Job simulation tasks
				  that provide for progression in frequency, load, and duration are essential.
				  They must be related to the work goal and include a variety of work stations
				  that offer opportunities to practice work related positions and motions, i.e.,
				  clerical, plumbing, electrical;
* Education that stresses body mechanics, work pacing, safety
				  and injury prevention, and that promotes worker responsibility and
				  self-management. The education component requires direct therapist and worker
				  interaction;
* Assessment of the need for job modifications. Focus on
				  whether the worker can return to the stated job goal but only with changes,
				  i.e., added equipment, changes in work position or ergonomics, changes at the
				  work site;
* An individualized written plan that identifies observable
				  and measurable goals, the methodology being used to reach these goals, the
				  projected time necessary to accomplish the goal, and the expected outcomes.
				  This plan must be signed by both the provider and the patient;
* This plan needs to be based on a functional capacity
				  (baseline) evaluation and must be completed within the first two (2) days of
				  the program and compared to the critical demands as stated on the job analysis.
				  A comparative analysis (re-evaluation) is done prior to discharge to determine
				  job readiness;
* A reporting system that includes:
- Documentation of the initial plan;
- Documentation of progress or lack of progress and future
				  goals;
- A discharge summary that includes an assessment of the
				  functional capacity level and the achievement of the individual's program
				  goals; and
- A record of the worker's daily attendance including number
				  of days and number of hours per day in the program.