Why Disability Management? Why Now?
Disabilities are on the rise. The aging population and the changes associated with new, more subjective types of disabilities result in employers seeing productivity dropping and the costs associated with short-term and long-term disability benefits increasing. 

• Statistics show that 3 out of 10 working people will become disabled for 90 days or longer, between ages 35 and 65. Nearly 1 in 5 people will become disabled for 5 years or more prior to age 65.
• Costs associated with employee injury or illness are rising 15-20% a year.  This means that over a five-year period these costs will double. This makes it difficult for companies without well managed disability management programs to remain competitive in today’s marketplace.
• It's no longer just lip service when employers say people are their most valuable assets. When an employee is off the job due to a serious injury or illness, the impact is more than a matter of adding up the loss time and income replacement costs. That person's knowledge, experience and training are also lost to the organization, temporarily or permanently.
• In light of these trends, effective disability management is critical for employers and their employees. Identifying and addressing the absence issues caused by these trends require a solid administrative foundation and appropriate case management services.
• Do your Disability benefits work together to provide the support your employee’s need, while still encouraging them to return to work as soon as possible? 

A disability management program can be a fundamental component of Project Management and Strategic Planning.  Advantage Rehabilitation Consultants Ltd. can help provide solutions and answers to key questions such as:

• When is the employee able to return to work?
• What type of replacement or support workers will be required and for how long?
• What type of company health benefits will have to be accessed to help the employee return to work and are they being utilized to their greatest potential?
• What type of support will have to be put in place to help this person return to work safely and successfully?

Focus on return to work
Unlike traditional disability benefits that focus on income replacement and staying at home until one is completely recovered, the emphasis in the Advantage Rehab approach is on managing the disability and helping employees who can do so to return to work as early as safely possible. When illness or injury keeps workers off the job, the costs to employers escalate in a number of significant ways such as lost productivity and increased worker compensation costs. Returning the worker to the job in a safe and timely manner is in the best interest of all concerned. A return-to-work program is designed to identify the causes of disability, manage the frequency and duration of disabilities, and encourage rehabilitation and early return to the workplace. Advantage Rehabilitation Consultants Ltd. can help disabled employees regain their self-sufficiency through rehabilitation programs, vocational rehabilitation services, job or worksite modifications, and job training or education.  Such programs help prevent the onset of a "disability mentality" that besets workers when they are on extended leaves and begin to feel they are no longer needed.

Essential components of disability management include interventions at the onset of injury or illness, job accommodations to promote retention and productivity, and preventive steps to reduce further lost time and minimize the impact of disability. More recently "evidence-based outcomes" have provided corporate managers with clear choices in best practice standards. Disability Management maximizes employee contributions to the success of the company and reduces cost associated with employee absenteeism.

With the qualified Rehabilitation Consultants at Advantage Rehab, Injured/ill employees are assured of receiving better quality treatment, often more quickly than if they were on their own.  Employees are contacted very quickly and do not feel “lost in the cracks”.   They have a case manager working with them from the time the claim is reported. The message this sends is important: The Company cares about its employees and their health. Not only can this motivate the worker to return to the job more quickly, it can also minimize the employee's desire to prolong the disability claim. 

Early Intervention Is Critical 
At twelve weeks, injured/ill employees have 50% chance of ever returning to work.  That figure decreases to 2% after 1 year.

Disability Management Programs Can Save Companies Money.
In most companies, direct and indirect costs of disability account for 6 to 8 percent of payroll. 

• Direct costs are the monies spent to pay employees for time loss during absences covered by short-term disability, long-term disability or workers compensation benefits. Common reasons for extended absences range from musculoskeletal injury to depression. 
• The indirect costs of disability can equal or exceed the direct costs. Indirect costs include costs for medical care and treatment, benefits administration and processing, the use of temporary staff or hiring and training of replacements. 
• Aggressively and proactively managing employee time off has been shown to reduce the length of time off by an average of 10 percent, as well as slow the growth of short and long-term disability costs. 
• In the workers compensation arena, many employers have been successful in substantially reducing costs by getting employees back to work.  The longer an employee is off work, the less likely s/he will return to work.
• But the hidden costs of disability are what employers are most concerned about these days--the potential loss of employees, the disruption and inconvenience to the business, lost productivity, and impact on employee morale and job satisfaction.

Benefits to the Employer:

• Reduced staff attrition and training costs by retaining experienced and knowledgeable employees.
• Improved productivity (When an employee sees the tangible evidence that their employer is concerned about the well-being of its staff, morale improves. Improved morale means greater productivity with trained and skilled employees maintained on the job. 
• Reduced time loss because the employer is able to participate in making appropriate plans to facilitate the employee’s return to work. 
• Reduced time loss because employees know that their employer will make whatever reasonable accommodation may be required to facilitate their return to work.
• Increased return to work rate. 
• Improved morale and employee relations by offering RTW Plans for both non-work-related injury and illness.
• Assurance time loss is not due to a lack of opportunity for the absent employee to RTW.
• Demonstration of concern for the best interests of employees and confirmation that employees are viewed as valuable members of the company. 
• Participation and contribution to the rehabilitation process. 

Benefits to the Health Care Provider:

• Knowledge about the employee’s specific job requirements, workplace environment and / or availability of a RTW Program.
• Focused and coordinated treatment for the employee through a RTW Plan. 
• Treatment of the whole person rather than just the injury.
• More efficient use of health care resources that are directed toward a specific goal: the return to work of an ill employee, by using the partnership approach. 
• Having treatment strategies agreed upon in advance, so that service is not fragmented or duplicated.

Why Advantage Rehabilitation Consultants Ltd.?
Disability management has evolved dramatically from the days when it largely entailed making sure that proper paperwork was filed and treatment provided. Today, it is a far more complex task.  It is important that the company responsible for the rehab management of your employees is able to complete the wide spectrum of duties that Disability Management now entails including:

• Management of disability cases.
• Coordination of treatment.
• Return-to-work program development.
• Vocational assessment and job placement.
• Program management and evaluation.
• Organizational consultation.
• Intervention skills to address the psychosocial issues of a patient.
• Ability to analyze the physical duty and skill requirements of a particular job, the implications of injury or illness and the possibility of altering the duties to accommodate impairment.
• Case management techniques, from handling medical information to understanding benefit structures and case recording.
• Awareness of the corporate milieu and knowledge of key components including health benefits, legal requirements such as the duty to accommodate, and corporate policies and procedures.
• Managed care and managed disability methods, to balance cost-containment techniques with providing quality medical care.
• Ergonomic assessment and injury prevention strategies.