Book Review: AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Work Ability and Return to Work, Second Edition

How to get the most out of the fit note

“…• tolerance (a psychophysiological concept, dependent on the employee's experience of reward from work). 7 Asking about the patient's perception of the relationship between their work and health is important in understanding psychosocial barriers that might impede How to get the most out of the fit note a safe and productive return to work. For example, contrary to the evidence, 8 patients with back pain commonly believe that rest is the path to recovery.…”

Managing work disability to help patients return to the job

“…Disability duration is influenced by the individual patient, employer, physician, jurisdiction, insurer or benefits structure, and access to care. 15 For you to effectively manage a patient who is out of work for a medical reason, it is important to understand how nonmedical variables often influence the pace of recovery and the timing of return to work (FIGURE).…”

“…20,21 ❚ Job satisfaction has been identified as the most significant variable associated with prompt return to work. 15 Work has many health-enhancing aspects, including socioeconomic status, psychosocial support, and self-identity 22 ; however, not everyone wants, or feels ready, to go back to work even once they are physically able. Workplace variables, such as the patient-employee's dislike of the position, coworkers, or manager, have been cited by physicians as leading barriers to returning to work at an appropriate time.…”

“…However, employers often fail to send information to the physician about the patient's job tasks-such that the clinician must rely on patient self-reporting, which might be inaccurate, incomplete, or biased. 15 When a patient needs protection against foreseeable harm, highlight specific activities that are currently unsafe on the recovery timeline.…”

AAPL Practice Resource for the Forensic Evaluation of Psychiatric Disability

“…These include the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Sixth Edition (18); World Health Organization, International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) (64); Social Security Administration guidelines (65); DSM-IV-TR Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF) (15); and private disability insurance classification systems, among others. In the sixth edition of the AMA Guides, the categories of impairment for mental and behavioral disorders were revised to be more congruent with the ICF definitions (64) and conceptual framework (66). An evaluee can be asked to give a detailed account of actions on a typical day, a typical best and worst day, or the days immediately before the interview.…”