Patient care at the interface between rehabilitation and occupational health physicians--a systematic literature review focusing health care organization

Abstract

Principal goal of rehabilitation arrangements for patients in employable age are the preservation of the ability to work, the rehabilitation of employability and the prompt reintegration into the professional life respectively. In practice, the reintegration is achieving unsatisfactory results.The systematic literature research (acquisition period: 1998-2013) was conducted on the basis of defined search keywords in electronic databases, online archives, relevant German magazines (via manual search), and in bibliographies of selected publications. The definition of research results has taken place in consensus procedures on the tier of abstracts.Reasons for the unsatisfying reintegration quota are current temporary latencies and qualitative deficits of rehabilitation discharge reports, unsatisfying communication and cooperation between rehabilitation and company doctors, insufficient presence of company doctors, and trust issues between rehabilitant and company doctor among other things.The company doctors have an objective role as mediator based on their internal knowledge, competences and opportunities to influence, and they are awarded with a role as connecting piece on setting the course for rehabilitation.Since the currently available data are dissatisfactory concerning the medical interfaces in the rehabilitation process, despite the high thematically relevance, research activities should absolutely be intensified in this field of interest.