| ART Corporate Solutions - On Site Care Program |
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An OSHA VPP Recognized Best Management Practice for the Prevention of Overuse Injuries and Muscular Health MaintenanceOverview: ART is an advanced movement based massage system, which is extremely effective for accurately locating the cause of soft tissue conditions and effectively resolving (or greatly improving) overuse and strain/sprain conditions. This technique is performed by licensed or certified professionals, who have completed ART post-graduate training courses and passed rigorous written and practical examinations. ART is one of the only soft tissue techniques in North America with a federal process patent, so only certified ART practitioners are permitted to say they do the technique. ART Corporate Solutions, Inc only utilizes the highest level ART Providers in the US and Canada to carry out corporate services.ART providers utilize highly developed tactile skills and knowledge of physiological symptom patterns to locate scar tissue on and in between muscles and nerves. A precise hand or thumb contact is applied to the correct area (tension to the tissue) and the recipient is directed to move the effected region of the body through a specific range of motion (muscle is shortened then lengthened). This causes the muscles to slide under the ART providers contact. This technique has proven to rapidly break up scar tissue and yield recovery of many types of soft tissue pain conditions found in the work place and in sports. There are currently more than 3500 full body certified providers of ART treatment in the world. A Short History:Over the years ART was primarily delivered through individual private practices and word spread from patient to patient and athlete to athlete. Then as repetitive strain injuries became more prevalent, ART became utilized for such care as well. As the workers’ compensation arena is quite political and the number of ART providers is still relatively small, many cases never end up in the care of an ART provider and still many people (including medical professionals) are learning about the treatment.Approximately five years ago ART began delivering on-site care to corporations who had significant expenses in the area of MSD’s, high recordable injury rates, or who simply wanted to prevent conditions from developing as their population ages. A pilot program took place at Sanmina- SCI in Fountain, CO. SCI’s worker’s compensation costs were approaching 1 million dollars and primarily were attributed to soft tissue injuries. At the time SCI had around 1100 employees. ART placed a high level ART provider on-site at SCI for 6 hours per week (two 3-hours shifts on separate days). SCI permitted individuals with work related aches, pains and discomforts and work aggravated discomforts to see the ART provider. After one year SCI’s soft tissue expenses reduced by approximately 80% and ART has helped SCI maintain these savings for over 3 years. SCI’s EH&S manager, Mary Betsch, states, “Although SCI has made efforts in other areas to reduce workers’ compensation costs, our significant reduction in expenses is largely due to ART’s program. “ ART is currently deploying this program at moare than 105 corporate locations across North America including white collar to manufacturing type facilities. ART care has been recognized as a form of massage, not a medical treatment, by OSHA's national office and threfore, it is utilized as a wellness and prevention program that does not generate an OSHA Recordable Injury when delivered for employees in this type of on site care program. OSHA VPP auditors called this program a Best Management Practice after auditing Sanmina-SCI. When working on-site at a corporation, ART is rendered to individuals with job tasks that may have a high propensity for developing MSD’s or to individuals with early signs of symptoms. By catching these conditions early and or preventing them completely, companies can reduce recordable injury rates significantly. 90% of SCI’s soft tissue cases are treated on-site and only 10% are being referred out for occupational medicine care and rehab. With ART care, employees are not put on any work restrictions. Sessions are very brief (10 to 15 minutes). An average case will take 4 sessions (15 minutes each) to greatly improve and/or resolve an early onset condition.
Prevention is a large part of the ART program. The goal is to catch cases at their earliest stages and get employees well, right away, without missing work, but also to prevent the pain from reoccurring. ART providers teach employees very specific stretches to be done throughout the day during moments of downtime. These stretches take seconds, not minutes, and no formal breaks are required. ART provides these stretches both in handout form and in videos to client corporations. Statistical tracking:ART’s providers keep employee treatment notes in a secure electronic treatment note system. With this system, ART captures all pertinent details on each case and reports (to the company) ART’s outcomes, on a quarterly basis. This system shows the company how many cases were seen, separating work caused from work aggravated conditions, detailing body parts worked on, number of treatments rendered, outcomes of care, and cost of care.Employee Orientation:ART supplies the company with a video orientation and various customized flyers for employees, so they will understand and utilize the program immediately. |