Field Case Management
Meet Mary Aydt, RN, MS, CRRN
With more than 30 years of experience as a Genex case manager, Mary Aydt, RN, MS, CRRN, is a renowned professional who is on many adjusters’ short list to call when a catastrophic injury occurs. She is known to answer calls no matter the hour to ensure an injured worker gets on the right track to functional restoration.
The Case
A man was involved in a motor vehicle accident when a train collided with his car. He survived, but had sustained over 30 fractures as well as a traumatic brain injury. Treatment involved several surgeries and eight medical specialties. When the injured worker had his initial outpatient PT evaluation, he was deemed to be at a 9 percent functional level of his lower extremities.
Case Management Impact
Once on the case, Aydt was in frequent contact with all parties involved. Keeping the medical protocol moving toward return to work took a tremendous effort involving progress tracking, patient and spousal education and serving as an intermediary between all parties. To complicate issues, the man lives in rural Minnesota while his providers were located in metropolitan areas, which required frequent transportation coordination. Aydt organized these efforts and set up an opioid weaning protocol to help the injured employee progressively halt pain medication use. As the man began to progress through rehab, Aydt began establishing entry into a formal job placement program.
Outcome
With the assistance of a placement vendor, the injured employee was able to begin a new job, which seemed impossible considering the extent of the injuries two years earlier. This case required a case manager who possessed superior interpersonal communication skills and the know-how to work with multiple medical facilities to obtain information needed to keep case moving forward. In addition, Aydt’s strong clinical skills helped her coordinate all treatment with a wide variety of specialists.