Jacksonville, FL – One Call recently announced the release of a new whitepaper that examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has served as a catalyst for accelerating the adoption of telerehab approaches in workers’ comp.
One Call noted that prior to COVID-19, there was a perception within the industry that telerehab was inferior to traditional in-person physical therapy (PT). As a result, many injured workers relied heavily on brick-and-mortar facilities for treatment of common workplace injuries, such as those affecting the back, shoulders and knees.
Although the technology has been available for nearly five years, telerehab was not widely offered by adjusters –representing less than one percent of total PT referrals.1 In conjunction, injured workers were hesitant to participate in telerehab due to a perceived notion that the technology would be difficult to use and the treatment would be less effective.
COVID-19 Pushes Telerehab Forward
In February 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began issuing warnings to healthcare professionals about the impending threat of COVID-19. Non-emergency medical surgeries were cancelled, and in-person appointments were shifted to telehealth services to keep patients’ recovery moving forward.
Although One Call’s telerehab program began in 2017, it had not achieved wide adoption. Everything changed with the onset of COVID-19. Since telerehab technology was available and accessible, One Call seamlessly converted thousands of traditional in-clinic physical therapy appointments to telerehab and increased its network of telerehab providers more than x10 to 7,500.2 As a result, One Call experienced a 650% increase in telerehab referrals, including an 8% increase in referrals from adjusters and nurse case managers specifically requesting physical therapy to be delivered virtually.3
Read the full whitepaper: One Call: COVID-19 Serves as Catalyst for Telerehab Adoption
Source: One Call
Disclosure:
One Call is a WorkCompWire ad partner.
This is NOT a paid placement.
Notes
1One Call national data based on prospective referrals received from adjusters and nurse case managers in 2020.
2Wunker, S. (2020, June 16) How to Make the Coronavirus-Led Growth of Telehealth into an Investment Thesis. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenwunker/2020/06/16/how-to-make-the-coronavirus-led-growth-of-telehealth-into-an-investment-thesis/#326322c74c8b
3One Call national data based on prospective referrals received from adjusters and nurse case managers in 2020.