Allied health providers

The role of an allied health provider

Allied health providers play a vital role in helping workers stay at or return to work after an injury. Allied health providers:

• treat and manage the clinical care of the injury/illness
• make a significant contribution to improving health and return to work outcomes, under the direction of the treating medical practitioner.

Before you can provide any medical treatment, the worker must have a current medical certificate or have been referred by a registered medical practitioner.

All claims are managed in house by WorkCover. We do not organise treatment—this remains the responsibility of the treating medical practitioner. We rely on the medical information you provide us to develop a tailored rehabilitation program to help the worker get back to work after an injury.

Allied health providers and return to work

As an allied health provider, the best way to support a worker’s return to work is by focusing on what functions they can do, rather than what they can't. If we know what they can do, we can develop a suitable duties plan, if necessary find a host employer, and get the worker back to work and on the road to recovery.

Follow these principles to help your worker return to work as quickly and safely as possible.

• Assess the worker’s condition and communicate to them the importance of staying active and, if possible, at work to restore function and decrease disability or long periods of time off work.
  Research shows that when a person is off work for long periods of time, the less likely they are to return.
• Provide relevant medical treatment, identify any risks that may hinder their recovery or return to work, and set realistic treatment goals that focus on what the worker can do, not what they can’t.
• Encourage, where appropriate, the worker to self-manage.
• Provide information, advice and feedback (verbal/written) to the employer and WorkCover. Information should be clear and detail the worker’s injury, treatment approach and a positive and realistic return to work expectation.
• Identify suitable duties and possible workplace adjustments.

Information we need from you

The information you give us helps us manage the worker’s injury and rehabilitation program. You should provide us with:

• the results of initial assessment, what treatment is planned
• the goals of treatment (including return to work goal)
• expected recovery timeframe and pathway and how much treatment is anticipated
• results of simple screening and outcome measures.

What we pay

To receive payments for services, you need to be registered with WorkCover as an allied health provider. We only approve treatment by a registered or non-registered approved provider as directed by Q-COMP. Q-COMP advises what services WorkCover Queensland can use and provide the item codes that can be charged and who is qualified to provide them. Q-COMP lists these in the table of costs. The Act uses the term ‘registered’ to refer to those professions covered by a health registration board. The registered professions we recognise can also be found at http://www.ahpra.gov.au/.

Registered and non-registered approved providers include:

• physiotherapists
• occupational therapists
• exercise physiologists
• psychologists
• chiropractors
• osteopaths
• podiatrists.

Non-approved providers include:

• massage therapists
• pilates instructors
• personal trainers
• naturopaths
• homeopaths
• acupuncturists.