Improving Employee Health Through Manual Therapy
DORN and Yuma County
by Dell Dorn
Celebrating The Next Great Idea
These unique awards recognize the innovative and creative spirit of Arizona county governments as they find new and effective ways of providing services to their citizens.
OVERVIEW
More than 70 million physician office visits each year are directly related to musculoskeletal pain, and such pain is also a significant factor in prescription drug use and frequent absences from work. A majority of the County's workers' compensation claims are the result of musculoskeletal injuries and the County’s health insurance program costs are also greatly affected by employee pain.
RESULTS
In an effort to reduce the budgetary impact and personal costs associated with chronic pain, Yuma County partnered with the DORN Companies to institute a program of manual therapy called the Pain‐Free™ Treatment Program. What is Pain‐Free™ Treatment (PFT)? It is a proprietary system of non‐invasive deep tissue manual therapy consisting of more than 90 specific protocols (or methods) for treating each different type of pain condition. It is designed to reduce or eliminate painful musculoskeletal conditions. This reduction in pain improves an employee's quality of life and workplace productivity since a healthy, pain-free worker uses less sick leave and is less prone to accidental injury at work. The County also benefits from improved employee productivity and morale, a reduction in worker’s compensation and health insurance claims, and a reduction of costs associated with medical treatment.
During the first year of implementation the DORN therapy provided saved the County approximately 78% by averting potential claims.
CONCLUSION
In addition to the empirical data that demonstrated the efficacy of the PFT program, the comments of the program participants confirmed that the therapy was having a profound effect.
“I am amazed at how easy it is to be pain free. The explanation and application of stretching has improved my quality of life.”
“I just thought [pain] was something that I had to live with, however, now I see that after just 4 treatments the pain is almost gone. I can move my neck & feel no strain or pain. That is a great feeling to have.”
The PFT program is now in its 7th year of providing pain relief to employees while reducing insurance costs and improving workplace productivity and morale.
We thank Shannon Gunderman, Yuma County Administrative Services Director, for his significant contributions to this article.
Contact DORN for healthcare solutions that empower individuals and organizations to improve and sustain optimal health, well-being, and quality of life.
