COHN Occupational Case Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A COHN is coordinating care for an injured worker with a complex lumbar injury. Which action best demonstrates the role of advocate in case management?
- Limiting specialist referrals to reduce employer costs
- Ensuring the worker understands all treatment options and their rights (Correct answer)
- Directing the physician on which treatments to prescribe
- Deferring all decisions to the insurance adjuster
Correct answer: Ensuring the worker understands all treatment options and their rights
Advocacy in occupational case management means ensuring the injured worker is informed and can make autonomous, educated decisions about their care.
Question 2: Which tool is most useful for assessing an injured worker's functional capacity prior to return to work?
- Mini-Mental State Examination
- Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) (Correct answer)
- Pain Catastrophizing Scale
- SF-36 Health Survey
Correct answer: Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE)
A Functional Capacity Evaluation objectively measures a worker's physical abilities and limitations relevant to specific job demands.
Question 3: An occupational case manager notices a gap between the treating physician's restrictions and the employer's modified duty offer. The best first step is to:
- Advise the worker to refuse the modified duty
- Facilitate communication between the physician and the employer's HR team (Correct answer)
- File a complaint with the state workers' compensation board
- Request an independent medical examination immediately
Correct answer: Facilitate communication between the physician and the employer's HR team
Facilitating communication between stakeholders is a core case management function that helps resolve discrepancies and supports timely return to work.
Question 4: Under the ADA, what obligation does an employer have when an injured worker returns to work with permanent restrictions?
- None, if the worker was injured on the job
- Provide reasonable accommodations if the worker is otherwise qualified (Correct answer)
- Reassign the worker to a lower-paying position automatically
- Terminate and rehire under a new employment contract
Correct answer: Provide reasonable accommodations if the worker is otherwise qualified
The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities, including workers with permanent occupational restrictions.
Question 5: Which of the following BEST describes 'disability duration guidelines' in occupational case management?
- Legal mandates dictating how long a worker must remain off work
- Evidence-based benchmarks for expected recovery and return-to-work timelines by diagnosis (Correct answer)
- Insurance policy limits on indemnity payment duration
- OSHA standards for maximum allowable lost workdays
Correct answer: Evidence-based benchmarks for expected recovery and return-to-work timelines by diagnosis
Disability duration guidelines (e.g., ODG, Reed Group) provide evidence-based benchmarks to guide appropriate return-to-work planning by diagnosis.
Question 6: A case manager identifies that an injured worker is experiencing significant depression that is delaying recovery. The most appropriate action is to:
- Document the finding and take no further action
- Recommend immediate termination of workers' comp benefits
- Coordinate a referral to a mental health professional and communicate findings to the treatment team (Correct answer)
- Prescribe antidepressants in collaboration with the treating physician
Correct answer: Coordinate a referral to a mental health professional and communicate findings to the treatment team
Addressing psychosocial barriers through appropriate referral and team communication is essential for holistic occupational case management.
Question 7: Which metric is MOST commonly used to evaluate the effectiveness of an occupational case management program?
- Number of OSHA recordable incidents per year
- Return-to-work rates and duration of disability (Correct answer)
- Employer premium savings on general liability insurance
- Employee satisfaction scores on annual surveys
Correct answer: Return-to-work rates and duration of disability
Return-to-work rates and duration of disability are the primary outcome metrics for measuring the success of occupational case management programs.
COHN Occupational Case Management 2
A COHN is coordinating care for an injured worker with a complex lumbar injury.
Which action best demonstrates the role of advocate in case management?