In our last blog, we discussed the importance of work hardening at our Parkville, MD office to help injured employees return to work as quickly and safely as possible. Work hardening is a solution to help individuals that are deemed physically unfit to perform their jobs due to functional limitations, but in order for this determination to be made, a Functional Capacity Evaluation needs to be performed first.

A Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) is an important tool used to assist employees, doctors, insurance companies and many other parties in deciding the safe, functional levels for an individual to return to work. FCEs assess an individual’s capacity to perform work activities related to his or her respective occupation.

The FCE is a comprehensive evaluation that objectively measures strength, endurance, physical abilities, work level and tolerance. This data is then used to compare each person’s overall health status and function to the demands of their job and work environment, which will help indicate if they’re ready to return or not.

The most appropriate individuals for an FCE are: anyone that has been injured on the job and wants to know whether or not they can return to their pre-injury position or into an alternative gainful employment, anyone injured in a serious accident—such as a car crash—or anyone applying for Social Security benefits. People are generally referred for an FCE by physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, their employers, or in some states that allow direct access, they can refer themselves.

We can perform your Functional Capacity in Parkville, MD or any of our other three locations, and help you determine what’s needed for you to return to work in the most safe and expeditious manner possible. Components of each FCE will vary based on the purpose of the assessment and the particular occupation, but in general:

• The FCE will begin with a client interview, medical record review and a full physical screening
• From there, we will usually perform some functional testing, which will include activities like lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling
• We will also evaluate patients’ abilities to perform positional tolerance activities, such as sitting, standing, walking, balancing, reaching, kneeling and crawling
• Pain monitoring is typically performed throughout the FCE to document any pain patients may be experiencing during various activities
• FCEs are performed on a one-on-one basis with one of our therapists, and they usually last for 4-6 hours, and can take place over 1-2 days

If you’re looking to return to work after any sort of injury, it’s usually imperative that you have one of these evaluations performed first. Contact CAM Physical Therapy and Wellness Services today at 301-853-0093 to schedule a Functional Capacity Evaluation in Parkville, or at any of our other offices in Laurel, Hyattsville or Glenn Dale/Bowie, MD.