Injury Evaluation

ERS provides functional capacity evaluations that clearly document your client’s abilities and /or limitations. This includes an assessment of a person’s current abilities to perform routine daily self care and homemaking activities, childcare, work tasks and pursue recreational endeavors. This information is coordinated with an objective assessment of their mobility, strength, endurance, sensibility and manipulation skills; lifting and carrying, sitting and standing tolerances.

ERS provides focused evaluations that have value to plaintiff and defense attorneys. The evaluation findings and report clearly translate the impairment, which has been defined by the physician, into terms that relate to daily usage capabilities and/or limitations. This distinction is paramount in the determination of functional capacities and disability, and in attaching a realistic dollar value to an injury. With this information, attorneys improve their understanding of the significance of their individual client's injuries relative to his/her specific needs. This information is also easily communicated to juries, who understand what people need to do on a day-to-day basis.

The FCE is a multi-faceted assessment. Various modalities are used to obtain a realistic assessment of the person’s current work or functional capabilities. Mere performance or task completion is not the only standard used in the FCE- as attention to HOW the person performs and completes the task, positional changes, compensatory motion patterns, pain responses, and the need for rest breaks are clearly observed and documented. Equally important is the reliability and validity of the test measures.

ERS FCE’s can help assess:
• The extent and residua of injuries, following surgery and recovery from same
• The functional performance of persons with RSI, RSD and CFS
• If and how a person can perform his normal activities of daily living
• If and how a person can return to work
• Appropriate work restrictions
• Consistency of effort and/or malingering
• The functional deficits as related to applications for Social Security & Long Term Disability

These evaluations pick up where the doctor’s or treating therapist’s reports leave off. These evaluations focus on what the client can currently do. Evaluation findings often provide the foundation for the Vocational Rehab Counselor’s employability report and/or the Economist’s earnings evaluation.

Contact us at 973. 334.7499 or at ellen@ellenradersmith.com