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The Contribution of Onsite Physiotherapy to an Integrated Model for Managing Work Injuries: A Follow Up Study

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Abstract

Purpose As part of an integrated system to manage work injuries, some organisations utilise the skills of an onsite physiotherapist. Onsite physiotherapy can provide benefits for the workers and organisation when delivered as part of an early intervention injury prevention program (IPP) at a poultry meat processing plant. However, once established, the sustainability of this service on work injury and compensation outcomes without ongoing physiotherapy contribution is unknown. Methods Through analysis of two large secondary datasets of workplace injuries and compensation claims, outcome measures of injury rates, cost per workers’ compensation claim and duration of work absence were compared over a 36-month period where onsite physiotherapy contributed to the IPP and was later removed. Results 3951 injuries and their 781 resultant compensation claims were analysed within a 36-month analysis period. A small but non-significant rise in injury rates and duration of work absence was associated with the removal of onsite physiotherapy. There was also a shift towards more compensations claims with work absence after physiotherapy was removed. However, there was a significant reduction in adjusted mean costs per claim of $847 for all injury types (p < 0.001) and $930 for musculoskeletal disorders (p < 0.001) after the removal of onsite physiotherapy. Conclusions Once an IPP was embedded within an organisation, onsite physiotherapy services were able to be discharged without significantly and negatively impacting demonstrated benefits and injury outcomes. There was also cost savings to the insurer through reduced mean claim costs and to the employer by not funding the onsite physiotherapy service.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Office of Fair and Safe Work Queensland for contributing the wages data used in this paper. The authors also acknowledge the assistance and cooperation of the meatworks where the intervention was implemented. The meatworks requested their anonymity for the purpose of this study and for future reference.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Michael Donovan, Asaduzzaman Khan & Venerina Johnston

  2. RECOVER Injury Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Venerina Johnston

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  1. Michael Donovan
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  2. Asaduzzaman Khan
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  3. Venerina Johnston
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Correspondence to Michael Donovan.

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Conflict of interest

The corresponding author (MD) declares he was previously employed as an Occupational Health Physiotherapist at the meatworks in which this study was conducted. This employment ceased before the design and analysis of the research undertaken. Author MD did not receive financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome. The meatworks had no input into the research design, outcomes, writing or revision of the final manuscript. The remaining authors (AK and VD) wish to confirm that they have no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and have not received financial support for this work that may have influenced outcomes.

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Donovan, M., Khan, A. & Johnston, V. The Contribution of Onsite Physiotherapy to an Integrated Model for Managing Work Injuries: A Follow Up Study. J Occup Rehabil 31, 207–218 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-020-09911-0

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