The Case Manager's Checklist
Eight questions to ask before choosing a work-conditioning or work-hardening provider — and one line on why each matters. Ungated, printable, and deliberately provider-neutral: it works on any program, ours included.
The Case Manager's Checklist — Choosing a Work-Conditioning or Work-Hardening Provider
REHAB AT WORK · (888) 827-6361 · WWW.REHABATWORK.COM · Print freely and forward — these questions work on any provider.
The clock is the case's enemy. The New York State Workers' Compensation Board puts the stakes plainly: only about half of injured workers return to work after a six-month absence — and fewer the longer it runs. Which provider you pick, and how fast they move, is one of the few levers you control.
These eight questions separate a true work program from general conditioning with a longer name. Any provider worth your referral can answer all eight in one phone call.
Know the vocabulary first. Under APTA's work rehabilitation guidelines, work conditioning is a single-discipline program — up to 4 hours a day, roughly 2–4 weeks — restoring the strength, endurance and work function a job requires. Work hardening is multidisciplinary, built on real or simulated work, up to 8 hours a day over roughly 4–8 weeks, and addresses work tolerances and work behaviors. A provider who uses the terms interchangeably has already answered a question you didn't ask.
The eight questions
- Show me the job in the plan.
If the treatment plan doesn’t name the job’s actual demands — the weights, heights, frequencies and positions the worker must return to — it’s general conditioning with a longer name. - What happens when progress stalls?
Prolonged absence is itself harmful to a worker’s health (ACOEM, 2006). The answer you want is a defined trigger and a call to you — not “we extend the authorization.” - Can you simulate the actual job — and what would you build if it doesn’t exist?
Work hardening is defined by real or simulated work activity (APTA work rehabilitation guidelines). A provider with no answer for an unfamiliar job is planning to run a gym program. - How fast do you start once authorization is in hand — and which parts of the timeline will you commit to in writing?
In WCRI’s 2020 study of roughly 26,000 lost-time low-back claims across 27 states — Maryland included — PT starting more than 30 days after injury was associated with 58% longer temporary disability than PT started within three days. Ask which steps the provider controls and will put in writing; a calendar promise about steps it doesn’t control is telling you what you want to hear. - What does your progress report contain — and how often does it arrive?
You should be able to read progress as measurements against the job’s own demands, on a schedule you can plan around — not as adjectives at discharge. - How do you measure effort and consistency?
Expect a protocol-level answer — and treat it as a red flag if inconsistent performance is equated with malingering; the research doesn’t support that leap (Schwab et al., Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, 2026). - What does discharge require?
A physician’s release addresses risk; a work program exists to build and document measured capacity (AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Work Ability and Return to Work, 2011). Discharge should mean the worker’s numbers meet the job’s numbers — or an honest account of the gap. - What do you need from me to start?
The best answer is “send what you have.” A provider that holds intake until the packet is complete is adding disability days while the file sits still.
Keep this list working. Print it, forward it to a colleague, take it into any provider conversation — including our competitors' programs. If these eight questions raise the standard of the answers everywhere, injured workers win. We are confident in ours.
How we answer them
On the record, from our own billing data: a typical work program at our clinics runs a median of 37 days and 20 attended visits — about 3 sessions per week, with roughly 9 in 10 scheduled sessions kept — measured across 1,070 completed programs (24 months ending 2026-07-17) at 10 clinics in Maryland and Virginia, serving the DC metro. Every derivation is shown on our outcomes page.
For the rest, ask us the eight: work hardening, work conditioning and how we work with case managers are on the site — and the phone gets you a person who treats.
Questions about the process? Ask the pros. Industrial rehab leaders who know workers’ compensation and case management — call (888) 827-6361 or start a referral and we'll recommend the right next step.
Ask us the eight — today
Call (888) 827-6361 with the checklist in hand, or send a referral — we verify coverage and obtain authorization before the first visit.