Minn. R. agency 151, ch. 5220, REHABILITATION; QUALIFIED REHABILITATION CONSULTANT OR REGISTERED REHABILITATION VENDOR REQUIREMENTS; RULES OF PRACTIC, pt. 5220.0100
For the purposes of parts 5220.0100 to 5220.1900, the following terms have the meanings given them.
"Assigned qualified rehabilitation consultant" means the qualified rehabilitation consultant responsible for consultation, development, and implementation of the rehabilitation plan, whether the qualified rehabilitation consultant is:
"Commissioner" means commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry.
"Department" means the Department of Labor and Industry.
"Employer" means the employer at the time of injury of the employee, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
"Formal course of study" means a program described by a published syllabus with established time parameters for completion which results in a diploma or other certification that is accepted as a credential of basic competence in a vocation.
"Identifying information" refers to the name, current mailing address, and current phone number of a person or entity. For employees, identifying information also includes the department file number and date of injury. For employers and insurers, identifying information also includes the name of the individual to contact about the claim. For rehabilitation providers, identifying information includes the rehabilitation provider registration number.
"Insurer" includes self-insured employers.
"Job analysis" means a systematic study that reports work activity as follows:
Depending upon the purpose for which the analysis is completed, a job analysis may describe a group of positions that are sufficiently alike to justify being covered by a single analysis or, if necessary, may describe a position that is the total work assignment of a single worker.
"Job development" means systematic contact with prospective employers resulting in opportunities for interviews and employment that might not otherwise have existed. Job development facilitates a prospective employer's consideration of a qualified employee for employment.
"Job modification" means altering the work environment to accommodate physical or mental limitations by making changes in equipment, in the methods of completing tasks, or in job duties.
"Job placement" means activities that support a qualified employee's search for work, including the identification of job leads, arranging for job interviews, the preparation of a client to conduct an effective job search, and communication of information about, but not limited to, the labor market, programs or laws offering employment incentives, and the qualified employee's physical limitations and capabilities as permitted by data privacy laws.
"Job seeking skills training" means the formal teaching of independent work search skills including, but not limited to, the completion of applications, preparation of resumes, effectiveness in job interviews, and techniques for obtaining job leads.
"Medical management" by a qualified rehabilitation consultant means rehabilitation services that assist communication of information among parties about the employee's medical condition and treatment, and rehabilitation services that coordinate the employee's medical treatment with the employee's vocational rehabilitation services. Medical management refers only to those rehabilitation services necessary to facilitate the employee's return to work.
" On-the-job training" means training while employed at a workplace where the employee receives instruction from an experienced worker and which is likely to result in employment with the on-the-job training employer upon its completion.
"Qualified employee" means an employee who, because of the effects of a work-related injury or disease, whether or not combined with the effects of a prior injury or disability:
"Qualified rehabilitation consultant" means a person who is professionally trained and experienced and who is registered by the commissioner to provide a rehabilitation consultation and to develop and implement an appropriate plan of rehabilitation services for an employee entitled to rehabilitation benefits under Minnesota Statutes, section 176.102.
"Qualified rehabilitation consultant firm" means a public or private business, whether organized as a sole proprietorship, partnership, association, corporation, or other form, which is held out to the public as a business entity engaged in rehabilitation consultation and services.
"Registered rehabilitation vendor" means a public or private entity registered by the commissioner and existing wholly or in part for the provision of rehabilitation services in accord with an approved rehabilitation plan.
"Rehabilitation consultation" means a meeting of the employee and assigned qualified rehabilitation consultant to determine whether the employee is a qualified employee, as defined in subpart 22 to receive rehabilitation services, as defined in subpart 29, considering the treating physician's opinion of the employee's work ability.
"Rehabilitation plan" means a written document completed by the assigned qualified rehabilitation consultant on a form prescribed by the commissioner describing a vocational goal and the specific services by which the qualified employee will be returned to suitable gainful employment.
"Rehabilitation provider" means the following four categories of rehabilitation professionals:
"Rehabilitation services" means a program of vocational rehabilitation, including medical management, designed to return an individual to work consistent with Minnesota Statutes, section 176.102, subdivision 1, paragraph (b). The program begins with the first in-person visit of the employee by the assigned qualified rehabilitation consultant, including a visit for purposes of a rehabilitation consultation. The program consists of the sequential delivery and coordination of services by rehabilitation providers under an individualized rehabilitation plan. Specific services under this program may include, but are not limited to, vocational evaluation, counseling, job analysis, job modification, job development, job placement, labor market survey, vocational testing, transferable skills analysis, work adjustment, job seeking skills training, on-the-job training, and retraining.
"Required progress record" means a record maintained by the rehabilitation provider that documents the rehabilitation provider's services and the employee's rehabilitation progress. The record shall include all case notes and written reports whether or not they are submitted to the commissioner and all correspondence received or prepared by the rehabilitation provider about an employee's rehabilitation.
"Required rehabilitation report" means the rehabilitation consultation report, the plan progress report, and any other report that must be submitted to the commissioner whenever a rehabilitation plan is initiated, proposed to be amended, suspended or closed, or when a change of assigned qualified rehabilitation consultant occurs on a case.
"Retraining plan" means an individualized written plan describing the formal course of study through which the goal of the rehabilitation plan may be accomplished. Adult basic education or remedial programs may be a component of a retraining plan but do not constitute retraining in and of themselves.
"Review panel" means the rehabilitation review panel created by Minnesota Statutes, section 176.102, subdivision 3.
"Suitable gainful employment" means employment which is reasonably attainable and which offers an opportunity to restore the injured employee as soon as possible and as nearly as possible to employment which produces an economic status as close as possible to that which the employee would have enjoyed without disability. Consideration shall be given to the employee's former employment and the employee's qualifications, including, but not limited to, the employee's age, education, previous work history, interests, and skills.
"Transferable skills analysis" means identifying and comparing skills learned in previous vocational or avocational activities with those required by occupations which are within the qualified employee's physical and mental capabilities.
"Vocational evaluation" means the comprehensive assessment of vocational aptitudes and potential, using information about a qualified employee's past history, medical and psychological status, and information from appropriate vocational testing, which may use paper and pencil instruments, work samples, simulated work stations, or assessment in a real work environment.
"Vocational rehabilitation" means the sequential delivery and coordination of services by rehabilitation providers under a rehabilitation plan to achieve the goal of suitable gainful employment.
"Vocational testing" means the measurement of vocational interests, aptitudes, and ability using standardized, professionally accepted psychometric procedures.
"Work adjustment" means the use of real or simulated work activity under close supervision at a rehabilitation facility or other work setting to develop appropriate work behaviors, attitudes, or personal characteristics.
"Work hardening" means a physical conditioning program in a clinical setting designed to develop strength and tolerance for work or a schedule of graduated resumption of employment consistent with the employee's physical condition.
Minn. R. agency 151, ch. 5220, REHABILITATION; QUALIFIED REHABILITATION CONSULTANT OR REGISTERED REHABILITATION VENDOR REQUIREMENTS; RULES OF PRACTIC, pt. 5220.0100
Statutory Authority: MS s 176.102; 176.83