If you have suffered from a work injury and need assistance with the complicated process called Workers Compensation, we are the right clinic for you. Patient Care Injury Clinic has had 23 years of experience treating injured workers in the Houston area which means that the “complicated” process, as described by many medical providers, it is a simple process for us. Many times patients have been under the care of doctors that are unfamiliar with the process affecting a patient’s claim and leading to unnecessary delays.
Our experienced staff will assist you with your claim starting with the First Report of Injury to coordinating a safe return to gainful employment. Whether you’re dealing with an ergonomic or repetitive motion injury, heavy lifting injury, or a more severe injury related to equipment and machinery failure, Patient Care Injury Clinic is ready to provide you with an effective goal-oriented treatment plan coordinated by the highly-experienced professionals in our multidisciplinary team. Many injured workers get lost in the Workers Compensation system and have to settle for sub-quality care due to inexperienced medical providers unfamiliar with the system.
The system is set up so that the doctors involved in the patient’s care are required to fill out forms necessary to evaluate a patient’s claim. If you happen to be treated by one of those doctors unfamiliar with the process, it could have a detrimental effect on your claim leading to unnecessary delays in medical, income, and/or disability benefits. DO NOT FALL VICTIM TO INEXPERIENCED DOCTORS. At Patient Care Injury Clinic not only would you receive quality care for your job-related injury, but our staff has the experience necessary to maintain your claim active and avoid unnecessary delays in medical care.
An injured worker is initially evaluated by our medical director where a goal-oriented treatment plan is prepared with its primary focus to return the patient to gainful employment. Treatment is individualized due to patients coming into our facility at different phases of care. Some seek treatment after an acute trauma that is just a few days old, while others come to our facility after failing conservative care from an injury that is several weeks or even several months old that has turned chronic.
The initial phase of care focuses on transitioning the patient from the inflammation phase of an injury through the tolerance of active physical rehabilitation concentrating on increasing range of motion, strength, coordination, balance, and endurance. Treatments during this phase are known as “conservative” improving strength, rang where the injured worker is treated with conservative care consisting of passive modalities, medication management, injections, active exercise program, durable medical equipment, activities of daily living modifications, and job duty restrictions.
The secondary phase of care focuses on addressing medical conditions which prevented a patient from achieving treatment goals during the initial phase. In this phase it is common to order diagnostic testing (MRI, CT Scan, Ultrasound, Nerve Conduction/EMG, etc…) to assist in the diagnosis of a more complex or severe injury. Examples of conditions most commonly seen on diagnostic testing and related to on-the-job injuries are herniated discs of the neck or lower back, shoulder rotator cuff injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, knee meniscus tear, ligament tears, and fractures. Patients in this phase of care are often refer to specialists for further evaluation – orthopedics, pain management physicians, neurosurgeon, podiatrist, hand surgeon, and neurologist to name a few. Our doctors work with a network of highly-qualified specialists and surgeons that can properly evaluate and treat your condition.
The tertiary phase of care is focused on not only addressing the physical component of an injury but also other contributing factors that are interfering on a patient’s return to gainful employment. Some patients in this phase may have just a physical condition that failed conservative treatment and require surgical intervention. For example, a patient with a shoulder rotator cuff repair may require surgical intervention by an orthopedic surgeon. Other patients may have a physical condition that did not respond to conservative care and have turned into a chronic condition. These patients may suffer from Chronic Pain Syndrome which is a condition in which pain is accompanied by either depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, fatigue, loss of sexual desire, irritability, or disability. Treatment for these patients consist of admission to our CARF accredited program which focuses on a return to gainful employment through a patient’s participation in a multidisciplinary program.
At Patient Care Injury Clinic, injured workers have the alternative of participating in one of our two CARF accredited programs – Occupational Rehabilitation Program (aka Work Hardening), or Interdisciplinary Pain Rehabilitation Program (aka Chronic Pain Management). CARF accreditation is an exclusive honor for facilities that follow a strict criteria not seen in an ordinary clinic. In fact, our facility is ONE of TWO facilities in Houston accredited for Interdisciplinary Pain Rehabilitation Program, and ONE of THREE facilities in Houston accredited for Occupational Rehabilitation Program.
Essentially if you are an injured worker that has failed conservative care and continue to live in pain as a result of your work-related injury, it’s time for you to allow the Patient Care Injury Clinic to evaluate your condition. Allow our multidisciplinary team consisting of medical doctors, chiropractors, psychologists, and professional counselors, to lead you to the road to recovery and get your life back.