After an injury, return-to-work decisions can feel fraught with not only moral concerns for employee safety, but also legal entanglements. On top of that, reporting of pain and movement limitation can be subject to personal bias of both the worker and observer. Although the primary purpose of a Functional Capacity Assessment is to identify an individual’s physical capabilities, it is important to objectively qualify their participation level – their level of effort. The KEY Assessment Methodology uses 85 data points to reliably determine the level of effort and participation each individual demonstrates during the Functional Capacity Assessment, addressing common questions such as:

• What about the worker who is consistently re-injured each time they return to work?
• What about the worker who is overexerting?
• What about the worker with chronic pain?
• What about the worker who seems unable to perform at previous levels?

It is critically important for physicians, employers, employees, insurers, and attorneys to understand each worker’s true Participation Level as that worker returns to their job. Because the KEY Assessment operates as a “lie detector for the body”, therapists can supply both physically and legally sound, unbiased answers to all of these parties.

It is interesting to note – statistics show only about 5 percent of those participating in Functional Capacity Assessments turn out to be “malingerers”, or those who are knowingly exaggerating their own incapacity. After assessments are complete, patients are assigned to one of the following four categories:

Valid Participation – the individual is giving full effort and can return to work at prescribed levels.

Invalid Participation – the individual is consciously giving less than full effort. Payouts may be adjusted down, and legal battles can be won or lost accordingly.

Conditionally Valid Participation – individual unknowingly demonstrates less than full capacity (often due to fear or misperceptions of one’s ability). The employee will need assistance overcoming the limiting issue; until then, they can return to the work in the physical capacity they demonstrated during the assessment.

Conditionally Invalid Participation – the individual is over-performing beyond his or her true and safe capacity. This worker is likely to re-injure unless strong parameters are instituted.

Regardless of other perceptions, the 85 data points utilized by KEY provide legally defensible evidence for return-to-work decisions. Physicians and workers, too, can utilize assessment results to create treatment plans going forward, resulting in an all-around “win” for everyone.