HealthSouth Adds Evaluation Equipment

by Charlie Young The York Dispatch

Technology is giving employers another means to control rising workers' compensation costs.

The Springettsbury Township location of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of York has leased a set of machinery for evaluating physical performance that promises to streamline the evaluation process and to make it more objective.

The evaluation and rehabilitation machinery by BTE Technologies provides digital measurement of a variety of physical tests and compares them to data produced for the American Medical Association. The tests are part of functional capacity evaluations used to see whether a person can perform his or her job duties. The machinery measures such things as range of motion, lifting capabilities and tolerances for bending, reaching and other motions.

Heather Boyle, an occupational therapist and site manager of the HealthSouth location at 2127 Industrial Highway, said all of the tests performed on evaluation and rehabilitation machinery previously had to be measured manually and documented by hand.

"This machine streamlines the process and makes the results more objective," Boyle said.

The results are more objective on both sides of the equation, she said. The precision-calibrated machinery and comparisons to national data reduce subjectivity on the therapists' side, and the person being tested has less room to magnify symptoms in order to remain off work.

For example, on a range-of-motion test, the results of each of three trials should be within 15 percent of each other. A greater variation indicates the test subject may be trying to fudge the results, Boyle said.

Before, Boyle had to compare the percentages of variation on a calculator. Now the machine does it instantly.

"It saves a lot of time, which helps keep the costs down," she said. By providing more objective testing, employers better know when employees can safely return to work, and workers can feel more confident they won't be reinjured once they return, Boyle said.

BILL KALINA
The York Dispatch
HealthSouth patient Harry Sawmiller, 42, of Red Lion, is tested on new evaluation equipment while physical therapist Deena Nigro watches.

EvalTech™ - Functional Testing System