Managed rehabilitative care: overview for occupational health nurses.

Managed rehabilitative care (MRC) is a comprehensive approach to return ill or injured employees to the workplace as soon as they are medically fit to function. A MRC program is designed to maintain the health of employees and the integrity of corporate short term disability, long term disability, and workers' compensation programs. MRC can be an effective method of returning employees to health and work while contributing to cost containment. Ideally, one person is responsible for the overall program management and the daily operations of a MRC program. In many companies, this role is assumed by the occupational health nurse. To measure the productivity and effectiveness of a MRC program, data must be collected and documented.