Psychosocial matched care ensures that case management and healthcare decisions, practices and products are tailored to recovery needs of each claimant.

Psychosocial assessment results

•Digital responses are presented in a manner to (1) facilitate claimant insight, and to inform decisions related to (2) case management referrals and (3) health and rehabilitation provider matched care intervention plans.  

Elements of Matched Care

•Individual self-management skills coaching/counselling tailored to assessment results.

•Extra healthcare in collaboration with GP including services provided additional to compensable claim.

•Workplace support to address any workplace barriers, arrange modifications and job accommodations.

Biopsychosocial Domains

•We understand biopsychosocial impacts better when responses are measured in categories known to influence recovery and return to work.

•Biopsychosocial domains guide case manager referral decisions.

•For workers, understanding these issues across the domains helps clarify the impact of them on their pain and well-being.

•Biopsychosocial domains assist providers to prioritise elements of matched care.

Matched care providers

•Require assessment to identify the most influential psychosocial constructs such as fear-avoidance, workplace issues and to fine-tune counselling and interventions to address the issues.

•Counselling may be provided by medical, allied health or rehabilitation professionals who have undertaken credible biopsychosocial counselling or coaching training.

•Service providers within any compensable scheme may be requested to integrate biopsychosocial coaching into their services to offer capability for tailored matched care.

•Following counselling repeat of the assessment questionnaire is necessary to ensure the program is effective.  

Psychosocial matched care is a modular system that requires planning, coordination and execution across multiple levels of an organisation and its external partners.  This example of a structured implementation plan may assist.

Exploration        

•Clarify goals of program.

•Appoint a team of leaders from all levels and sectors to facilitate the project.

•Socialise project within the team, identify points of resistance and potential management.

•Detail resources required.

oProject Manager

oIT enhancements – Psychosocial data integration and utilisation, customer app.

oOperational reform – roles, cost coding, policies, KPIs.

oTraining Coordinator and training resources  

•Propose Pilot and phased roll-out process.

•Build detailed business case with financial projections, baseline and evaluation metrics.

Preparation

•Develop protocol to suit organisation, specifying procedures for all roles.

•Match IT upgrade to suit protocol, data utilisation, storage and program evaluation.

•Detail case cohorts and personnel to run pilot, timeline and evaluation methodology.

•Prepare a comprehensive plan to gain case manager engagement, enthusiasm for automated psychosocial screening and dashboard results; and build capability with communication protocols, biopsychosocial knowledge, matched care pathway options and outcome expectations.

•Engage external partners to clarify their roles, training, process changes, resolution of resistance. Anticipate current providers will integrate psychosocial matched care into service delivery.

Implementation

•Primary objective is to gain trust and engagement of claimants, ideally using customised digital communication resources.

•Through project socialisation and training build a community of practice to share experiences, challenges and best practices - providing a support network for this cultural change.

•Leaders of all sectors will ensure adherence to protocols and successful application of the psychosocial matched care program.

Evaluation

•Quantitative measures – psychosocial, LTI, and RTW data, claim and healthcare costs.

•Qualitative measures – consumer participants, organisation and external personnel.

•Establish procedures for ongoing monitoring and continuous improvement.