Occupational Health Services/Work Fitness

A variety of injuries can keep workers off the job and cause financial hardships for the worker and employer.

Magee Rehabilitation’s outpatient center of excellence, The Riverfront, is a provider of rehabilitation and services to help prevent of work-related injuries. A variety of injuries can keep workers off the job and cause financial hardships for the worker and employer. Patients enrolled in Magee’s Occupational Health Program can enjoy easy access to resources designed to return a person to work.

Treatments include: physical and occupational therapy, biofeedback, work simulation exercises, electrical stimulation for healing or pain management, shiatsu massage, and vocational counseling. This comprehensive approach is designed to identify any roadblocks to return-to-work and to address them with a combination of therapies tailored to the individual patient.

Employers play an active role in each patient’s therapy. On-site evaluations and injury prevention lessons are key to a successful return-to-work. Workers can return earlier than planned with “light duty” or modified assignments.

The Occupational Healthcare Management system provides for the efficient and effective coordination of services for each patient, and it affords timely, responsive communication with the employer or other referring party.

Each patient works with an assigned Magee Case Manager to ensure that goals are mutually understood and that services are timely and cost-effective.

Work Hardening

Magee offers a work hardening program designed for the injured worker to assist in his/her transition to a defined job. The program is mutually designed by the individual and all involved members of the rehabilitation team. These persons often include: employer representatives, treating and consulting physicians, insurance and legal representatives, and rehabilitation specialists. The goal of the program is to assist the individual to meet the physical skill demands of a specific job description. When a job is not defined at the time of the program, the individual’s physical capacity level is identified.

Prior to the initiation of a work hardening program, the team reviews the job description and obtains a “baseline” assessment of the individual’s current functional capabilities. The “baseline” assessment can be secured through a Functional Capacity Evaluation or appropriate medical and/or therapy records. A program is then developed gradually to build the individual’s abilities to perform the defined job tasks. The program may initiate at three to four hours per day, several days a week, and progress according to the individual’s tolerance to eight hours per day, five days a week.

This program, which is generally conducted in a simulated work environment:

  • replicates actual work conditions to measure stress factors
  • utilizes equipment and/or tools used on the job
  • is graded by gradually increasing the demands to the level required by the job
  • is monitored by a professional staff member to guarantee safe procedures

In certain circumstances and in collaboration with the employer, all or a portion of a Work Hardening program can occur at the actual work site. In addition to gradually increasing the individual’s endurance and ability to perform job responsibilities, the therapist will teach and monitor proper body mechanics and pacing strategies to prevent re-injury. Dependent upon the specific job, a work site evaluation may also assist in a safe transition into the work force.

Vocational Services

A comprehensive menu of vocational services which can be contracted as single services or integrated into other components of a broader return-to-work program are offered at the Riverfront. Vocational services often follow the assessment of the individual’s functional strengths and limitations through a Functional Capacity Evaluation. Services available include a vocational evaluation program and work hardening.

Corporate Education

Magee Rehabilitation supports business and industry by providing educational programs to their staff and management either at Magee or on-site at the company. Programs range from injury prevention and ergonomic assessment to body mechanics. The Magee team will discuss individual needs, and design programs specific for each company.

For additional information about this program please contact us at 215-218-3900.