http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php Copyright 2009, Brian Konowalchuk Brian Konowalchuk en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090102-061901 save the dates for Impairment without Disability 2009.

On the eve of September 24th, 2009, we will convene in beautiful Rochester, Minnesota at the Rochester Arts Center. The venue will continue September 25th, 2009 at the Kahler Grand Hotel.

Accommodations will be provided by the Kahler Grand Hotel at a group rate.

Continue to follow the MNWorkability website for updated information as it becomes available.

See you in 2009!!

]]> http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090102-061901 Brian Konowalchuk Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:19:01 GMT http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/comments.php?y=09&m=01&entry=entry090102-061901 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081011-091851 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081011-091851 Brian Konowalchuk Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:18:51 GMT http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=10&entry=entry081011-091851 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081007-060724
Dr. Brian Konowalchuk said that he has seen the medical establishment fail injured workers all too often, and he wants to do something about it.

“Issues in the system have led to lost employee time away from work and delays in useful medical information being acquired by employers,” Konowalchuk said.

That’s why he helped pull together a conference designed to help doctors and employers communicate better.

The Duluth Clinic, the Mayo Clinic and Minnesota Power have joined forces to put on a “workability” conference in Duluth on Thursday and Friday.

Konowalchuk, a Duluth Clinic physician specializing in occupational health, has watched with frustration as ill or injured workers struggle to navigate their way through a labyrinth of bureaucracies involving medical professionals, insurance companies, the workers compensation system and employers’ human resources departments.

“A lot of people who suffer a relatively minor injury end up with a significant disruption of employment,” he said, faulting inefficiencies in the system.

“It seems that as the costs of the system have gone up, our positive outcomes have gone down,” Konowalchuk noted. Often, injured workers wind up in a world of hurt after lengthy delays.

“It can result in a cascade of events that leads to relationship problems, loss of self-esteem and diminished income,” often including job loss, he said.

Konowalchuk said people who are unable to return to work also run the risk of becoming sedentary, complicating their recoveries and sometimes leading to lasting disabilities.

However, the system doesn’t need to work that way, said Inez Wildwood, a human resources manager for Minnesota Power.

She believes one of the keys is helping people return to work as soon as possible, if only on a limited basis.

“All the research points to the fact that we heal better and quicker if we can focus on resuming our lives,” Wildwood said. “People heal better when they’re on familiar turf and have the support of their friends. It can help them avoid becoming depressed and discouraged.”

Theresa Erickson, 40, of Embarrass has been out of work for nearly a year because of nerve problems that developed in her right arm while on the job at Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Her condition has resulted in chronic pain and a loss of function in the arm.

Now under the care of Konowalchuk, Erickson is undergoing physical therapy in hopes of returning to her keyboarding job on a part-time basis.

“I’m eager to get back to work,” she said, adding: “It’s easy to get depressed, staying home all the time.”

While Erickson described her husband and three sons — ages 12, 14 and 18 — as extremely supportive, she said: “Sometimes I feel as if I’ve become a burden, because there are certain things I just can’t do any more.”

But Konowalchuck believes that successfully returning people to work on a limited basis will require better communication between doctors and employers. He noted that doctors graduate from medical school without being taught the ins and outs of writing effective work restrictions that enable patients to return to work incrementally. It’s often easier for a physician to simply excuse a person from work entirely until the patient has been able to make a full recovery. Konowalchuk believes doctors should be offered training to help them identify and communicate a patient’s evolving abilities during recovery.

Wildwood said employers also need to be respectful of physicians’ busy schedules. She said the last thing they need is more complicated paperwork to fill out. That’s why she and others have helped develop a simple form that can help doctors inform employers about what types of work may be appropriate for employees recovering from an illness or injury.

The benefits of developing a support system for returning people to the work force can be immense.

Companies such as Minnesota Power that actively work to accommodate the needs of impaired employees tend to have fewer problems with them down the road, said Jim Peterson, an attorney who handles many workers comp cases for the Duluth firm of Falsani Balmer Peterson Quinn & Balmer.

“They save a lot on attorney fees and litigation,” he said.

Konowalchuk said there are other benefits, in the form of increased productivity.

He noted that since SMDC Health System began more actively reaching out to help injured workers, it has seen a marked reduction in lost time. He noted that in 2003 the average injury claim at SMDC resulted in 72 lost work days, as opposed to just an average of just 10 lost days in 2007.

One of the beneficiaries of this approach has been John Kmiech, a Duluth Clinic groundskeeper, who has undergone two back surgeries in the last decade, after an on-the-job shoveling injury.

He recalls that before those surgeries, he was doubtful he would be able to retain his job.

“It was very scary,” Kmiech said. “I didn’t think I would be able to go back to groundskeeping, but I decided that all I could do was try.”

With proper care and support, Kmiech has twice returned from surgery.

Chris Gebeck, a Duluth Clinic athletic trainer who has worked with Kmiech, said having a positive attitude and maintaining the will to overcome adversity is critical to patients’ success. “It’s huge,” he said.

“He [Kmiech] could easily have said, ‘I hurt too much,’ but he didn’t want to labeled simply as someone with a disability,” Gebeck said. “Around here, we try not to talk about disabilities but about what people are able to do.”


PETER PASSI covers business and development. He can be reached weekdays at (218) 279-5526 or by e-mail at ppassi@duluthnews.com.

Tags: news, business
]]> http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081007-060724 Brian Konowalchuk Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:07:24 GMT http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=10&entry=entry081007-060724 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080820-101329
It’s about industry and medicine working together to take care of our injured and ill workforce. “Together, we can prevent needless work disability by helping people stay employed”.

Breakdowns in the process that cares for, and nurtures, our ill and injured employees, frequently results in severe financial and social hardship for individuals and intolerable expenses for our employers.

Please join us Thursday evening, October 9th, at the Kitchi Gammi club, where we will spend an inspirational evening with Jim Abbott, the famed one-handed pitcher who proudly represented the United States in the Olympics and pitched a no-hitter in the major leagues!!

Friday October 10th, at the Holiday Inn, you will learn the real science behind work restriction and function after injury or illness. You will be educated by the leading national experts on injury, function, and rehabilitation.

We will begin the process of creating a common language and understanding between business owners, human resource personnel, managers/supervisors, and medical professionals. Together we will socialize, interact, share ideas, and move forward in the process of change that will lead to a reduction in needless work disability in our workforce.

You won't want to miss this!

Register online at www.mnworkability.com. Total fee is $200, including food at the Kitchi Gammi Club Thursday and at the Holiday Inn Friday.

See you there,

Brian Konowalchuk, MD, MPH
]]> http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080820-101329 Brian Konowalchuk Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:13:29 GMT http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=08&entry=entry080820-101329 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080725-205212 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080725-205212 Brian Konowalchuk Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:52:12 GMT http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080725-205212 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080725-203402
6.25 Prescribed credits are pending with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The American Physical Therapy Association accepts 6.25 credits as approved by the College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic.

The course has been designated to meet Minnesota Board of Nursing Continuing Education requirements and provides 6.25 contact hours.

It is the responsibility of the participant to determine if the requirements are met.

CEUs are pending for CDMS, CRC and CCM.

]]> http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080725-203402 Brian Konowalchuk Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:34:02 GMT http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080725-203402 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080707-062711 Thursday October 9th, 2008

3:00 – 4:30 MNworkability group meeting .

Private meeting room at the Kitchi Gummi club prior to Jim Abbot speaking.



Friday October 10th, 2008

7:00-7:45 Minnesota ACOEM members only breakfast.

Place TBA.
]]> http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080707-062711 Brian Konowalchuk Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:27:11 GMT http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080707-062711 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080707-061924 Conference Schedule:

Thursday, October 9, 2008 Kitchi Gammi Club

5:10pm – 5:30pm Introduction/Welcome

5:30 pm – 6:30pm Jim Abbott -- Featured Speaker

6:30pm – 7:00pm Autographs

7:00pm – 8:30pm Social Gathering


Friday, October 10, 2008 Holiday Inn

7:30am - 8:30am Registration (Coffee/Tea/Food)

8:30am – 9:00am Welcome / Introduction

9:00am – 9:45am Presley Reed, M.D, FACOEM, FAADEP – Science behind
Disability Durations

9:45am – 10:30am William Shaw, PhD. – Early Intervention in Return to
Work for Musculosketal Conditions

10:30am – 10:45am REFRESHMENT BREAK

10:45am – 11:30am James Ranville, MD – Treatment Methodologies for Spinal Pain

11:30am – 12:15pm Timothy Lynch, PhD, ABPP – Disability Assessment,
Chronic Pain, Behavioral Health

12:15pm – 1:00pm LUNCH

1:00pm – 1:45pm Discussion

1:45pm – 2:30pm Jamie Cox, MD, CMO, WCBNS – Successful Return to
Work Outcomes

2:30pm – 2:45PM BREAK

2:45pm – 4:30pm Randolph Soo Hoo, MD, MPH – Physician Assessment,
Qualifying Material for SSDI
Michael Crowe, JD, Brett A. Albren, JD – The Interplay of Social Security Disability Income (SSDI), Long-Term Disability (LTD), and Short-Term Disability (STD)

4:30pm ADJOURN

]]> http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080707-061924 Brian Konowalchuk Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:19:24 GMT http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080707-061924 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080707-060420 MEETING MINUTES
BMI offices
June 6, 2008
Noon-1:30

PRESENT: Mary Harris, Mike Goertz, Connie Klein, Mary Makres, Mark Raderstorf, Dottie Rottier, Jane Ryan

C: Deb Campbell, Greg Couser, Catherine Ellis, Pam Pfarr

TOPIC AND DISCUSSION -- ACTION (A) OR DECISION (D)

MINUTES •

Reviewed how to share minutes
(D) Jane will take minutes
(D) Agreed to post our minutes on the MNWorkability.com website

MN Workability (formerly known as Summit)

• The group reviewed and approved the final summary of the January Summit at their May 16 meeting.

(D) Next MN Workability meeting is June 20 at 7:30 am
CompRehab, Inc
3500 American Blvd W (494 & France)
Bloomington, MN 55431


GOALS of PDP Group •

Review research and protocols that presently exist
• Short term-Develop a case manager assessment tool for identification of patients at risk for prolonged disability
• Develop a useful tool for the physician to be used with high risk patients
• Long term- Publish an article in a highly esteemed journal, become famous and travel the work to reduce our work stress

(D) Agreed with goals of the group

Updates on May assignments

• Mark has contacted Claire Miller from APA and is waiting to hear back
• Mary M provided ‘Barriers to RTW’, a list of red flags that Assurant uses
• Dottie shared the ‘Barriers to Employment Success inventory’
• Jane indicated Mayo Clinic does not have a psychiatric protocol. She also shared a Functionality Assessment she received from Texas Health Resources
• Mark distributed a Depression Case Management Algorithm he received from Pam. He will ask her if she would share the psychiatric impairment worksheet and review with us at our next meeting.


TO DO ASSIGNMENTS

(A) Jane will email Mike’s articles along with the minutes..
ALL-Read all articles sent by Mike
ALL-List your ideas for questions for a case assessment form on paper
(D) If anyone has articles or information to be shared, please send everything electronically if possible.


Next Meeting, Friday, July 18 from 8-9:30 at BMI Offices, 7211 Ohms Lane, Mpls (952) 927-0184

***For those that want to participate by phone, please call 218-339-2500, id 317661#.
]]> http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080707-060420 Brian Konowalchuk Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:04:20 GMT http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080707-060420 http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080707-055824 Reguster online now for Impairment Without Disability: the clinician's role. Secure Paypal registration is available.

Reserve your seat while space is still available.]]> http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080707-055824 Brian Konowalchuk Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:58:24 GMT http://www.mnworkability.com/blog/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080707-055824