Physicians play an essential role in helping patients navigate special accommodations and return-to-work plans with their employers, but this often comes with a weighty and time-consuming administrative burden. 

• More than 90% of doctors surveyed by the CMA nationwide agreed that the current process adds to their administrative burden, a significant contributor to burnout.

Work is underway to improve all this, on multiple fronts. 

New return-to-work policy: The Canadian Medical Association has released an updated policy that better defines physicians’ role in helping patients return to work. Doctors Manitoba participated in the policy revamp. 

The policy outlines several key shifts.

• Your role: Provide medical information (restrictions, limitations) 
• Not your role: Decide if a patient can return to work 
• Employer’s role: Determine accommodation based on your input 
• Important nuance: You can decline out-of-scope questions or qualify responses (e.g., ​“patient reports”)

Wondering how this will affect you? 

• Learn more and download the new policy here.
• Join the CMA’s webinar on Sept. 10 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm for an online presentation and discussion about the revised policy. Register now.

Putting the policy into practice: Doctors Manitoba is working to put this policy into practice by developing a universal employer medical form to simplify and standardize the requests that come to physicians for return-to-work, accommodations, and other common requests. 

• There are more than 380,000 employer medical requests per year, taking up over 58,000 hours of physician time. 
• With over 40,000 employers in Manitoba, each has its own form and process asking for similar information in different ways.
• We have designed a prototype universal form based on input from physicians, employers and HR professionals that asks for medical information about functional limitations while leaving decisions about accommodations and return-to-work to the employee and employer. 
• A major Winnipeg-based employer is now piloting the form, so some physicians may see it cross their desk. 

Your voice matters: Thank you to everyone who shared your input on the policy as it was developed. Your feedback makes a difference – keep it coming to adminburden@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

Funding for this initiative was made possible by the Canadian Medical Association, MD Financial Management Inc. and Scotiabank as part of the Health Care Unburdened Grant program.