Maahir Haque, MD

Dr. Haque MD recognizes the complex requirements of managing on-the-job back or neck injury.

“Treatment of the back pain needs to be accelerated and compressed when the person has an on-the-job injury,” explains Dr. Maahir Haque. “In a sense, treatment of occupational injury is similar to the requirements of an injured athlete. When a baseball shortstop has a shoulder injury, the team wants the player back on the field as fast as possible.”

“When an employer loses a valued member of their team because of a back or neck injury, they too want that person back in the workplace as fast as possible, but also not so soon that they injure themselves again,” Dr. Haque adds. “Secondly, if treatment and rehab will take several months, the employer needs to know that quickly as well because they will need to fill the position temporarily so they don’t lose company productivity.”

The other issues involved with work-related back or neck injury, is that the employer and the employer’s insurance company may have an economic responsibility that can be extremely expensive.

Maahir Haque MD works closely with the injured worker, the employer, the insurance adjuster and the case manager to provide accurate diagnosis of the injury, the most likely cause of it, and the most appropriate treatment for the person.

Maahir Haque MD has a work comp liaison to help case managers get the most current information on a case. His approach greatly improves coordination of care.

This coordination is especially crucial for work-related back or neck injury. Those with on-the-job back injury require diagnosis and treatment plans to be accelerated because of the impact on employers and their desire to get the employee back to activity.

Specific to on-the-job back or neck injury, Maahir Haque MD works closely with employers and case manager RNs to help those with back and neck pain recover and return to activity and their jobs. Recognizing that work-related injury needs to be addressed promptly, we typically provide quick appointments for those with on-the-job injury.

Work Related Injuries

One in five on-the-job injuries relate to back or neck injury. Worse, 5% of the people with back pain related disability account for 75% of the costs associated with low-back pain. Health care expenditures for individuals with back pain have been estimated to be about 60% higher than those without back pain, meaning that back pain is an extremely expensive problem.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders that result in days away from work most commonly involve the back alone. In 2016, musculoskeletal disorders involving the back accounted for 38.5 percent of all work-related musculoskeletal disorders (134,550 back cases out of 349,050 total cases).

Further, one-fourth of all compensation indemnity claims involve back injuries, costing industry billions of dollars on top of the pain and suffering from those with work-related back injury.

Sadly, back and neck pain is a leading cause of disability in the United States. Maahir Haque MD recognizes the complex requirements of managing on-the-job back or neck injury. The longer the patient is off the job, that affects the productivity of the company, and payments for disability can soar.

While all those with back or neck pain symptoms want to get back to activity, the issues become far more complex when a person has a work-related back or neck injury. Consequently, many employers and insurance companies make use of case manager RNs to help navigate the injured worker through the sea of doctors’ offices and therapy centers for a fast and appropriate spine care.

Maahir Haque MD works closely with the injured worker, the employer, the insurance adjuster and the case manager to provide accurate diagnosis of the injury, the most likely cause of it, and the most appropriate treatment for the person. We try to provide information to the case manager about the Treatment Plan, and when return to work may be achieved.

We also are highly responsive to the injured worker who also has concerns about their ability to safely return to the job. Unlike other spine treatment providers that may bounce the injured worker among various locations for diagnostics, doctors’ offices, treatment locations and therapy, we are able to provide many of those services under one roof. We are also able to coordinate care more efficiently than other fragmented treatment models.

We have a vested interest in helping all those involved in a work-related injury to provide the most prudent approach to spine care.

Dr. Haque strives to take a conservative approach to back and neck problems but also recognizes that the clock is ticking and every effort is made to determine the best and quickest route back to work and activity. Dr. Haque recognizes the key to successful case resolution is improved communication between the spine center and the case manager. The spine center has a work comp liaison to help case managers get the most current information on a case.