You are considering
providing or
enhancing services
within the realm of
Workers’
Compensation…
You are receiving calls with
requests for Functional
Capacity Evaluation
Tests…
You are looking to diversify your
medical practice due to Medicare
cuts, Managed Care, or the
Affordable Care Act…
How to Choose Functional
Capacity Evaluation
Software
A guide to purchasing the best Functional Capacity Evaluation
Software for your business.
Do I need training? What
about certification? How
long will training take?
What is the investment?
There are Many Opportunities to Consider
Within the rehabilitation industry there are many hands in the pot of reimbursement, and there is
constant talk about reimbursement cuts, cuts, and more cuts. Rehabilitation clinic owners, directors
and upper management are always looking for ways to offset the continued cuts and keep their doors
open. Workers’ Compensation reimbursement within 95% of the United States continues to hold its
own if not increase on a year to year basis. Adding service lines within the realm of workers’
compensation rehabilitation will help you diversify your clinic and provide higher paying revenue
streams.
You can decide if the service line you want to start with or enhance is Functional Capacity Evaluations.
Maybe you have no idea where you are going to get your referrals from? Maybe a company has
contacted you and asked if you perform “Functional Capacity Evaluations”. Maybe a doctor who refers
you patients asked if you perform FCEs? Maybe an Attorney has asked if you perform FCEs. Any of
these may be viable routes to make the investment in Functional Capacity Evaluation training and
software.
Step 1: TRAINING
There are a few continuing education courses that will teach you
how to perform Functional Capacity Evaluations. Some of them
require that you use their software. Some of them will train you
and send you home with the paper-based testing tools to keep
your investment down with the hope that you build your FCE
program and come back to them later on to get software. Some
of them do not have software to complete the FCE. Some of the
questions in regards to the training include: Do I have to travel to a course to get trained? Are they
coming to a city near me? Can I get trained right on the internet? Do I really need to be certified?
In the end certification is not a necessity but is asked for by some insurance companies. If your state
medical practice act says you can perform Functional Capacity Evaluation then you can. There are a few
options in regards to Functional Capacity Evaluation training out on the market. Ninety percent of the
courses are live in person hands-on courses where you need to travel to the course to get trained. If you
have a group of clinicians requiring training many of the organizations providing FCE training will come
directly to you. There is only one organization that provides training online as live interactive webcast
courses or on-demand courses and that is OccuPro. OccuPro has a state of the art training facility with
webcast technology that rivals most universities.
So how about equipment?
What type of equipment
do I need to perform
Functional Capacity
Evaluations?
Do I really need to make an
investment in software?
What does FCE software
do for me?
Step 2: EQUIPMENT
You could spend anywhere between $1,000.00 up to $50,000.00 on
equipment to perform FCEs. In the end it does not matter what
equipment you use to perform your FCEs. Per the Americans with
Disabilities Act as Amended and the United States Supreme Court you
need to perform your FCE as close to how the job is performed as you
can. So it does not matter what equipment you use since very few
pieces of equipment used in FCEs are even close to the content validity
of a job/occupation. In the end it would make the most sense to minimize your equipment expense and
use general FCE testing equipment available on the open market and the most reasonably priced
equipment.
Step 3: SOFTWARE
There are roughly 8 software systems out on the open market that perform FCEs. The things you need
to consider when choosing a software system for performing your FCEs is as follows:
1. Does the software system have reliability and validity research to support the testing method?
2. Can I get my FCE post-test documentation done quickly? (The biggest complaint in FCE testing is
when it takes hours to write up reports.)
3. Does the software perform all of the calculations I need to
make a gainful employment decision
4. Is the software easy to navigate?
5. Are the reports the software creates clear and concise and
will my referral source/customers find the most pertinent
information easily?
6. Can I customize the reports for various customers? (The
doctor will not want a 30 page report to read.)
7. Can I add libraries of documentation into the software that I
want to use for future FCEs?
8. Will the FCE software pull job descriptions for me?
9. Is the software computer-based, server-based, or in the cloud?
75% of all Functional Capacity Evaluation software systems are exactly the same. Twenty five percent of
the testing methods within that software system are where things vary from one system to the next.
You need to consider the testing methods but in today’s climate you need to also consider features that
help you clinician get an FCE done quickly.
QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU BUY
One of the main questions you should ask the software company is when was the last time they updated
their software? How often do they fix bugs or enhance their software? As much as upgrades seem to
interrupt your daily work, they are much needed as technology continues to advance. Microsoft, Apple,
Oracle and many other company’s products wouldn’t have survived if they did not constantly make their
software product better and conform to digital standards. You need to invest in an FCE software system
that is always evolving and keeping up to date with the digital trends.
TAKING A LOOK: OCCUPRO’s COMPREHENSIVE INDUSTRIAL REHAB PROGRAM
OccuPro has trained thousands of medical professionals over the last 11
years on how to perform FCEs through our In Class, Live Interactive
Webcast, and On Demand Functional Capacity Evaluation courses. Everyone
who attends this course is considered certified as a trained Functional
Capacity Evaluator. OccuPro’s FCE course focuses on the biomechanical
approach to performing FCEs and has performed research to support the
FCE testing method we teach. OccuPro is essentially a one stop shop for
conducting Functional Capacity Evaluations.
OccuPro’s Functional Capacity Evaluation software is on the latest Microsoft Web 2.0 cloud-based
platform. The security of the software is as secure if not more secure than your online banking account.
OccuPro updates their software monthly with new software features, improved evidence-based testing,
and features to allow for greater speed of report completion.
The thousands of clinicians who use OccuPro’s FCE software are able to perform a standard FCE which
may take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours and they are able to complete their post-test documentation
within 15 minutes of test completion. The software then generates their customized report
immediately and once the clinician verifies the report is ready to go they can immediately e-mail the
report through a HIPAA compliant/secure e-mail portal within their software.
OccuPro is constantly performing research on their testing software and to date has completed 7
research projects in regards to their FCE testing method. OccuPro’s FCE software caters to the new FCE
tester but one of our successes has been many seasoned FCE testers have started using OccuPro’s FCE
software secondary to the high level of customization. We created our software to not be an “in the
box” thinking system. Our philosophy is that there is no perfect way to perform FCEs but there are
many good ways to perform FCEs. We have created our software system to allow the seasoned FCE
tester to continue performing their testing method in this very fast cloud-based system without skipping
a beat with their customers. The value is it only takes them 15 minutes to complete their post-test
documentation.
OccuPro’s Online Assessment Application is thorough and informative, but easily navigated during
functional evaluation assessment process. Our referral sources have been extremely happy with the
generated reports. – Erich Herkloz, PT Owner of Strive Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation
