4.5.29 Occupational therapy
4.5.29.1 Hand Therapy | 4.5.29.2 Mental Health Occupational Therapy | 4.5.29.3 Framework occupational therapy | 4.5.29.4 Arrange an Occupational Therapy assessment
WorkSafe can pay the reasonable costs of referred occupational therapy treatment or assessment to assist workers in the rehabilitation of a work-related An injury/disease is work related if it arose out of or in the course of employment and the scope of employment. injury or illness.
WorkSafe will only pay for occupational therapy by providers who are:
- registered by WorkSafe to provide occupational therapy services
- registered to practice as an occupational therapist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
Occupational therapists provide workers with treatment designed to maximise their independence and facilitate their participation in activities of everyday life. Treatment is initiated by a medical practitioner and directed by the occupational therapist under approval by the Agent.
Treatment may involve:
- provision of exercises to promote recovery (e.g. hand therapy)
- prescription of adaptive and/or alternative techniques to enable a worker to perform an activity (e.g. breaking heavy tasks into smaller more manageable tasks)
- prescription of equipment to enable a worker to perform an activity
- modification of an environment to facilitate independence and participation (e.g. installing a rail in a bathroom)
- assessment to establish the level of support that a worker may require as a result of their injuries (e.g. household help)
- provision of focused psychological strategies to assist management of mild to moderate mental health conditions (e.g. mental health occupational therapy). WorkSafe can pay for the reasonable costs of a medical and like expense where a worker is entitled to provisional payments on a claimed mental injury. See: Provisional payments for a mental injury.
Treating occupational therapists must submit an Allied Health Recovery Management Plan (AHRMP) to the managing Agent by the fifth consultation.
Occupational therapists can also conduct assessments to assist Agents to make decisions about the type of help and support a worker may need as a result of their work-related injury or illness.
Occupational therapists delivering hospital based inpatient/outpatient services
In an inpatient or outpatient hospital setting, an occupational therapist employed or contracted by a hospital registered with WorkSafe may prescribe personal and household services (PHS) required to facilitate the safe discharge of a worker from a hospital, or to increase their functional independence as they transition back to the community.
These may include an aid, assistance, appliance, apparatus or service (equipment). In these instances, the recommendations made by this occupational therapist can be accepted by the Agent up to 12 weeks following discharge from care. A further assessment is not required upon discharge to the community unless the worker’s circumstances have changed or the assessment did not consider specific requirements.
Further, in this situation, it is not necessary that a separate request for the PHS (including equipment) be made by a medical practitioner. It is not necessary for a separate Request for household help services form to be completed by the worker’s medical practitioner for up to 12 weeks post-discharge. Services requested beyond this period will require a request for household help services form and household help worker’s declaration form.
WorkSafe currently considers a request for occupational therapy services, made by an occupational therapist within a hospital setting, to have been initiated by a medical practitioner due to the level of oversight that medical practitioners have over the care of workers whilst they are patients.
See: Personal and Household Services | Household Help | Arrange an Occupational therapy assessment | Framework Occupational Therapy
Policy
Refer to the Occupational Therapy Services guidelines for information about:
- occupational therapy treatment and assessment
- what can be paid for
- who can provide services
- expectations for service delivery under the Clinical Framework
- referral requirements.
Fee Schedule
WorkSafe publish a fee schedule for the maximum amounts it will pay for a range of occupational therapy services.
See: Occupational Therapy Services Fee Schedule | Cost of Services