If you’re employed in NSW, and you sustain an injury at work, your return to pre-injury health and work capacity is facilitated by the NSW worker’s compensation system. The worker’s compensation system aims:
to assist in securing the health, safety and welfare of workers and, in particular, preventing work-related injury
to provide:
prompt treatment of injuries, and
effective and proactive management of injuries, and
necessary medical and vocational rehabilitation following injuries,
in order to assist injured workers and to promote their return to work as soon as possible,
to provide injured workers and their dependants with income support during incapacity, payment for permanent impairment or death, and payment for reasonable treatment and other related expenses
to be fair, affordable, and financially viable
to ensure contributions by employers are commensurate with the risks faced, taking into account strategies and performance in injury prevention, injury management, and return to work
to deliver the above objectives efficiently and effectively
Interacting with the worker’s compensation system and insurance companies can be confusing and overwhelming. In order to commence Physiotherapy treatment for a workplace injury, the key piece of information you require is your insurance claim number. Once you have your claim number, things tend to fall into place. The worker’s compensation legislation is set up such that you are granted eight sessions of Physiotherapy on a pre-approval basis so as to facilitate a timely commencement of treatment.
What this means is that we can get started on your rehabilitation immediately, for up to eight consultations. After eight consultations, we, as your treating Physiotherapy provider, complete what is known as an Allied Health Recovery Request (AHRR). This is a form that outlines our clinical assessment of your injury, treatment received and outcomes achieved to date. It also includes our plan for future treatment, short term and long term prognosis. The AHRR is submitted to your insurance company for assessment and approval. Each AHRR we submit includes a request for a maximum of eight additional treatment consultations. We continue a cycle of requesting treatment approval in blocks of eight consultations until your return to work and health goals are achieved.
Some workplace injuries are simple and require only a few weeks of Physiotherapy treatment in order to achieve your return to work goals. Other workplace injuries are complex and it may be many months before your return to normal employment and your claim is wound up. It really helps to choose a support team (GP, Physio, Specialist etc) that is well versed in handling worker’s compensation claims. Doing so will help ensure that your recovery is hassle free. Your focus should be solely on getting well again, and your time and energy shoudn’t be wasted on administrative red tape.
At Coogee Bay Physio, we ensure that;
You receive a thorough and accurate physical assessment with your goals at the forefront of any management plans.
We liaise closely with all the stakeholders involved in your care plan, whether that be your GP, insurer or other medical professionals – to take the stress out of your hands and let you focus on your recovery.
Early on, our main focus is to get you out of pain and moving freely as quickly as possible. This can be achieved through a combination of hands on techniques and gentle exercise therapy. Once this has been achieved, our main aim is to get you reconditioned back stronger than you were before, utilising our purpose built rehabilitation gym.
If your situation changes whether that be for the better or worse, we communicate this quickly to the appropriate people to ensure that your care plan is constantly updated. We also utilise a large battery of objective tools to support our in house assessment.
If you’re a Coogee or Eastern Suburbs local and you have a question about your workplace injury and our Physiotherapy services, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 029665 9667.