Industrial Medicine and Athletic Training: Cost-Effectiveness in the Non-traditional Setting

Helping disabled workers to return to work is the goal of many corporate rehabilitation efforts. Increasingly, employers are providing rehabilitation services either as part of their overall disability management approach, or as a special program aimed at facilitating return to work. Finding a program that offers cost management, as well as facilitating appropriate return to work is the objective of most employers in effective disability management. Disability management involves two types of costs: wage-related benefit costs and costs for rehabilitation services or treatment. Whether the injuries occur at work or leisure, the costs will be borne by the company in some fashion. There are clear benefits from using an in-house program. Increasingly, corporate managers are employing athletic trainers to provide this rehabilitation service on-site.