Workers’ Compensation Physical Therapy

At Forward, workers’ compensation isn’t a side service — it’s a full program. From the day of injury through return to full duty, we manage every phase: initial evaluation, treatment progression, surgical prehab if needed, post-op rehabilitation, functional capacity evaluation, and return-to-work clearance. One clinic. One team. No gaps.

We coordinate directly with employers, adjusters, nurse case managers, and physicians so nothing falls through the cracks. Every visit is documented with objective data — not subjective opinions — and every decision is backed by measurable progress.

Every work comp case starts with a comprehensive initial evaluation. We establish objective baselines — range of motion, strength, functional capacity, pain levels, and movement quality. This baseline isn’t just clinical documentation. It’s the foundation that drives every treatment decision and proves every outcome.

We also assess the full picture: job demands, mechanism of injury, prior history, psychosocial factors, and any barriers to recovery. Work injuries don’t happen in a vacuum, and we don’t treat them that way.

Our treatment approach is active, progressive, and goal-driven. Manual therapy and pain management have their place early on, but the focus shifts quickly to strengthening, functional training, and work-specific conditioning. We don’t keep patients on a table — we get them moving.

Treatment plans are built around measurable milestones: strength targets, functional benchmarks, and return-to-work criteria. Progress is tracked visit to visit so there’s never a question about whether therapy is working.

When surgery is on the table, most clinics stop therapy and wait. We don’t. Patients with work injuries who are waiting for surgery face a dangerous window: pain limits activity, activity drops, weight goes up, and aerobic fitness plummets. We see it constantly — significant weight gain and measurable cardiovascular deconditioning in the weeks between injury and surgery.

Our pre-operative program addresses this head-on. We maintain what we can, build what’s safe to build, and make sure the patient goes into surgery in the best possible condition — not the worst. Stronger going in means faster coming out. That’s not opinion. That’s data.

Using our Return+ testing platform, we identify exactly where the gaps are before surgery creates new ones. If there’s a 40-pound side-to-side strength deficit before the operation, we know about it and we’re working on it.

After surgery, we follow evidence-based protocols tailored to the procedure and the patient’s pre-operative baseline. Because we already have objective data from before surgery, we know exactly what we’re building back to — not guessing.

Post-op rehab progresses through structured phases with clear criteria for advancement. We coordinate closely with the surgeon, keep the adjuster updated with objective progress reports, and drive the timeline with data, not calendar dates.

When it’s time to determine work readiness, we perform comprehensive Functional Capacity Evaluations. Our FCEs objectively measure lifting capacity, positional tolerance, grip strength, cardiovascular endurance, and task-specific abilities matched to the patient’s actual job demands.

FCE results are defensible, reproducible, and accepted by insurers, employers, and physicians. Whether the goal is full duty, modified duty, or permanent restrictions, the data speaks clearly.

Work comp cases involve more stakeholders than any other type of rehab: adjusters, nurse case managers, employers, physicians, surgeons, attorneys. We communicate proactively with all of them. Progress reports are objective and timely. Phone calls are returned. Nothing gets lost.

We work with all major Wisconsin workers’ compensation insurers and understand the authorization, documentation, and reporting requirements that keep cases moving forward — not stalled in administrative limbo.

• Full-program management — injury through discharge, including surgical cases
• Pre-operative conditioning — we don’t let patients decondition while waiting for surgery
• Objective outcome tracking — every decision backed by measurable data
• Functional Capacity Evaluations — defensible, job-matched FCEs
• Direct coordination — adjusters, NCMs, employers, and physicians kept in the loop
• Return+ testing platform — structured performance testing that proves readiness
• Two locations — Fitchburg and Edgerton, Wisconsin