WSIB & Physiotherapy

Many injured workers go, or are referred, to a physiotherapist to assess and treat their workplace injuries and to help them reintegrate into the workforce. Under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, injured workers have the right to choose the practitioner from which they get care and they also have the right to consult a physiotherapist without a referral from a physician or any other health-care practitioner. In many cases, being assessed by a physiotherapist and beginning treatment as soon as possible after an injury speeds return to work and increases the likelihood of full recovery.

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has embarked on a new health-care delivery model. Part of the delivery model involves the development and implementation of Programs of Care for specific diagnostic categories. Programs of care are based on the latest scientific evidence and are developed in close collaboration with the professions that deliver the care. The Ontario Physiotherapy Association has been intimately engaged in the development of each of the Programs of Care that relate to musculoskeletal conditions. A Program of Care for Acute Low Back Injuries is already operational. Programs of Care for Persistent Low Back Injuries, Lower Extremity Injuries, Upper Extremity Injuries and Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries will be launched soon. Physiotherapists are, or will be, major players in the delivery of care under these Programs of Care. In order to deliver treatment under a Program of Care, however, practitioners must be registered with the WSIB.

Injured workers should understand, however, that their treating practitioner by law must disclose their patients' condition, course and outcome of treatment to the WSIB.