How long should the recovery period last for an injured employee?  

Try to determine from the beginning, how long it will take an employee to return to work in transitional capacity, or to full duty and to maximum medical improvement (MMI). Adjusters have resources to determine the normal length of disability. You can use these tools also. 

Ask your claims adjusters how they estimate the length of disability.

Guidelines are approximate recovery times based on injury severity.

If the injury duration guidelines state the length of time for the injury is one week and your employee's physician says the employee will be out for five weeks, a disparity may exist.  

However, there may be complicating medical factors as well. Every medical situation is different. Conditions such as diabetes can compound the length of recuperation.  

If a disparity in the timeframe exists, ask your medical department to call the treating doctor to discuss the case doctor-to-doctor.

If the treating doctor has prescribed an extended time out of work, perhaps the doctor is unaware your company has a transitional duty program designed to accommodate all temporary restrictions.

Has your workers comp program sprung a leak in excess and unnecessary claim costs? There are as many types of leakage as there are workers comp subjects to discuss. Read on.

If someone else is at fault, they should pay for it  Every claim should be, but isn't being reviewed for subrogation. Is your adjuster asking the right questions?

Consider third party RTW providers who specialize in placing injured employees in a job when the employer is unable to provide light duty or modified duty work for the employee.

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