Earning Disability Management Credentials

It used to be that disability managers relied on best-practices models and training programs developed by insurers and their disability management counterparts at other companies.

But the emerging complexity of managing disabilities has spurred the creation of courses and a number of certification programs, leading to professional designations specific to the industry.

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"We had a lot of information to share, and we were small," Sharon Kaleta, CEO of the Disability Management Employer Coalition, says of the early days of the DMEC. "So we thought that a way to disseminate it in a quicker, more global way was to create an education program with a designation attached to it, so that people could take the courses of study and receive all the information the DMEC had to provide, and get on with it."

She adds that the issues are complex and the job complicated, so anyone who learned all there was to learn about it deserved accreditation.

What resulted was the Certified Professional in Disability Management, or CPDM, designation, which DMEC developed in collaboration with the Insurance Educational Association.

The courses cover critical information that a manager needs to know about managing disabilities in the workplace so that occupational and nonoccupational disability claims can be integrated and managed efficiently. The goal is to ensure that injured workers receive the care they need while at the same time taking proper steps to get them back to work as soon as possible.

Information about the certification program and the classes required for the designation are available by contacting the Insurance Educational Association at (800) 655-4432 or by e-mail at info@ieatraining.com.

December 1, 2006

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