1. Fitness for Duty and Return to Work Exams
James Rochester, MD
WORKNET Occupational Medicine

2. Fitness for Duty and Return to Work Evaluations
Fitness for Duty Evaluation (FFD)
Problems with job performance possibly related to medical or physical problems
Danger to self or others
Inability to safely perform essential functions of the job (good job descriptions)
Need to be observable and documentable
Consistently applied
Written policy

3. FFD & RTW Evaluations Return to Work (RTW)
Employee has been out of work
Work or non-work related
Is employee safe to return to work?

4. FFD & RTW Evaluations In both cases need LOTS & LOTS of Info
Info From Employer
What is their concern?
Reports from supervisors
Reports from co-workers
Results of their investigation
What is the job?
Good, detailed job description
On-site visit by provider

5. FFD and RTW Evaluations
Info From Employee
Office Notes from managing providers
Operative Reports
Imaging Study Reports
Therapy Notes
Hospital Records
Note from treating provider stating, “ Patient ok to go back to full duty” not enough

6. FFD and RTW Evaluations
Process
Information received is read and reviewed
May require additional requests for more records
Once all info received and reviewed, then appointment made for employee to come in for evaluation

7. FFD and RTW Evaluations
The Visit
Extensive history obtained from patient
What happened?
What symptoms are you experiencing?
What makes them better/worse?
What has been done to date?
Any ongoing problems or issues?
Have you been fully discharged from care?
For FFD; is this effecting your ability to do your job?
For RTW; do you feel you can do your normal work?

8. FFD and RTW Evaluations
Exam
Focused on the areas in question
Sometimes creates more questions than answers

9. FFD and RTW Evaluations
Medical Opinion
Is person safe to perform job functions?
Are they a danger to self or others?
Do they need restrictions?
Do they need more treatment and re-evaluation?

10. FFD and RTW Evaluations
Issues we see at WORKNET
No investigation done by company
Employee has no idea why they are at our office
Employee sent in by company with no information regarding the issues/concerns at hand

11. FFD and RTW Evaluations
Solutions
Call us first
We can help you determine what information is needed
Explaining situation allows us to devote enough time in schedule for adequate and appropriate evaluation to render best medical opinion we can