Using Technology to Increase the Health of the Workforce By CYNTHIA Y. THOMPSON
Musculoskeletal injuries and disorders are one of the top cost drivers related to any company’s health care expenditures. They are also associated with high costs due to absenteeism and lost productivity. Organic Motion (www.organicmotion.com) has introduced a new technology that will help employers reduce their healthcare spend on musculoskeletal work related injuries. This is an amazing new technology.
How the Technology Works It’s called markerless motion capture. The technology allows you to use a lab without the need of reflective markers like traditional motion capture labs require. The Organic Motion OpenStage system has 24 cameras that surround the user and capture motion, feeding the data into a computer algorithm that detects the skeletal resemblance of human motion.
Because the software is cloud based, the information is accessible anywhere in the world, allowing you to get to that most important information quickly. The Vault is an intelligent human movement analysis system that produces and delivers the data you need to accurately and precisely design treatment or training programs for your staff. It is just like having your own team of software architects, bioengineers, and healthcare specialists right at your fingertips.
How can HR professionals implement this technology to decrease healthcare costs? Organic Motion will train you and your staff to collect movement protocols and to upload movement files to the cloud. From there, DARI’s cloud software will process all of your data automatically and produce a report designed by you so the information is delivered to you in a form that you can immediately apply. From collection to application, it can take less than 90 seconds!
New technology reduces healthcare spend, decreases absenteeism and increases productivity The new technology will help to decrease absenteeism and increase productivity related to musculoskeletal injuries as it will be easy to see the employee’s physical limitations and determine their fitness for duty. Currently HR professionals must rely on doctor’s input from FMLA forms. With this technology, it will be easy to determine whether an employee can return to work full time or whether you should assign him to light duty.
Reasonable Accommodations under the ADA
Cerner Corporation Cerner Corporation is a company most commonly known for being a leading strategic innovator in the area of healthcare. Cerner is the first to realize the real economic benefit of prevention by addressing individual limitations in an entire work force. The implications for the future of healthcare are massive. Rebekah Grube, a Certified Athletic Trainer for Cerner, explains. “We thought what if we could give people a real glimpse into their bodies, tell them exactly what’s going on, and then address it? We’re using the motion capture system to not only confirm a patient’s current condition, but also to help us uncover any weaknesses, tendencies, or asymmetries that could potentially lead to an injury down the road.” Click below to view a video overviewing Cerner’s application of the technology. http://www.organicmotion.com/cerner-uses-markerless-motion-capture-to-reducehealth-insurance-spend/
About Markerless Motion Capture Equipment In collaboration with Organic Motion’s leading partner in life sciences, DARI, Organic Motion is able to deliver a turnkey solution to any company interested in significantly reducing healthcare costs. In addition to proactive health care initiatives, DARI also provides an unparalleled platform for reactive patient tracking in the therapeutic environment. DARI can install markerless motion capture equipment at your facility. 16
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This new technology will also be an excellent tool in determining reasonable ADA accommodations requests based on limited physical mobility. It will be a simple procedure to implement markerless motion technology to determine the employee’s level of disability or physical limitations and assign the most accurate accommodation.
Workers’ Compensation You will no longer need to hire private detectives to follow your employees around who are on Workers’ Comp trying to catch them performing activities they shouldn’t be able to perform based on their workers’ comp rating. You can make your own videos in-house and make more professional and accurate determinations with this new technology. Organic motion clients are applying this technology to corporate wellness, healthcare, sports, and the military. This new technology allows people to improve performance, avoid injury, and improve the rehabilitation experience. For more information or for a demo, contact Jonathan Beaton, VP of Marketing at jbeaton@organicmotion.com.