OhioBWC - Provider:  Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation - Rehab Center- Q and A

Answers to commonly asked questions about the restructure of BWC rehabilitation services.

Q. What's happening with rehabilitation at BWC?
A. BWC has taken a hard look at our customers' needs and is restructuring our rehabilitation services to better meet those needs. These changes will enhance vocational rehabilitation opportunities for injured workers and rank the bureau among the nation's leaders in rehabilitation. For employers, this means their injured workers will return to work more quickly and safely, helping to contain workers' compensation costs. We also have changed the name of our rehabilitation facility. Formerly called the J. Leonard Camera Industrial Rehabilitation Center, the newly named BWC Rehab Center, the Return-to-Work Place will focus on vocational services and return to work. With these changes BWC will provide a better way to rehab.

Q. How did the BWC decide upon these changes?
A. BWC hired a private organization to perform a comprehensive study of vocational rehabilitation within Ohio's workers' compensation system. The report proposes a model using recognized best practices for rehabilitation at various stages in the lifecycle of a claim. This model, called "Remain At Work/Return To Work," was created based on a review of best practices and new developments around the country. This report also gives several other recommendations aimed at moving BWC from where we are today to where the model suggests we should be in the future, a national leader in rehabilitation.

Q. What rehabilitation services does BWC provide?
A. The newly reorganized BWC Rehab Center will focus on four key lines of business:

  • Occupational Rehabilitation Program - Services include a number of goal oriented return-to-work programs. Programming is customized to fit the individual abilities and return to work goals of the worker. The Occupational Rehabilitation Program offers: Traditional work hardening, replicating virtually any job in an industrial environment; Transitional Work programs, offering on-site rehab services and utilization of the actual job duties as therapy; Job Retention Services, offered to help injured workers stay on the job; on-site job analysis; Job modification services and Business Technology skills enhancement training.

    The BWC Rehab Center provides the resources to simulate job skills, such as driving a tractor-trailer, building a house or working on cars. So, injured workers strengthen the muscles they need to return to the job. BWC staff also will provide on-site analysis to help employers minimize work-related injuries.
  • Vocational Services - Services include vocational evaluation, career counseling, job placement and job skill training. Re-employment advisors located at BWC's local customer service offices provide services to assist injured workers in returning to jobs suitable to their abilities. There also will be a core group located in Columbus to offer these services.
  • Pain Management - This program is designed to positively impact the needs of an injured client who, despite medical management, continues to experience chronic pain that interferes with physical functioning. Clients who successfully complete the program are able to return to a more active, productive lifestyle with less reliance on the medical system resulting in decreased overall costs.
  • General Rehabilitation Program - Services include outpatient physical and occupational therapy, physical fitness testing, work conditioning, aquatic therapy and functional capacity evaluations.
A multi-disciplinary team of treatment professionals, including exercise physiologists, physical therapists and occupational therapists, provides the services within each line of business. This is a change from our previous departmental structure where communication was sometimes poor and treatment goals were sometimes inconsistent between the treatment disciplines.

Q. How will the organizational changes of the BWC Rehab Center impact Ohio's injured workers?
A. We are creating a vision for rehabilitation at BWC that will include implementation of the Remain-at-Work/Return-to-Work model. This will focus on being proactive and clearly define roles and responsibilities in the rehabilitation process.

The physical and structural reorganization will eliminate redundant and bureaucratic processes and put the customer first.

For injured workers, this means they will return to work more quickly and safely. And returning injured workers to work faster means better control and containment of workers' compensation costs.

We are re-evaluating our treatment protocols. The days of requiring a six-, eight- or 10-week program for injured workers are gone. Today we're looking at providing better service, faster, and pinpointing what the injured workers' treatment needs are to meet the return-to-work goal. Today's treatment focuses on transitional work - an interim step to return-to-work - which gets the employee back in the mainstream and helps decrease the emotional and financial impact of a work-related injury.

Q. What is BWC doing to speed up the rehabilitation process?
A. We are working hard to ensure injuries are reported promptly. The faster a claim is reported, the faster appropriate services can be identified. For example:

  • 47 percent of workers referred for rehabilitation services within three months after their injuries were returned to work, resulting in a 71-percent cost savings.
  • Vocational intervention at an early stage of the rehabilitation process is more likely to secure a timely return to work at a salary rate compared to the pre-injury wage level.
  • Vocational rehabilitation services and case management coupled with an early referral lead to significant cost savings. This combination makes sense from medical, humanistic, and financial perspectives.
Q. How do I get more information about the BWC Rehab Center?
A. For information, to arrange a tour, or to make a referral, please call
1-800-462-3083.


If you have Adobe Reader installed, you can download and print factsheets covering our four areas of rehabilitation in greater depth.
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Attention Physicians!
The Rehabilitation Referral and Prescription Form is also available to download and print as a PDF.

If you have any questions or comments about the BWC Rehab Center, or would like to schedule a visit or initial consultation, you can e-mail them to Rehab Services