THE BLANKENSHIP FCE SYSTEM
Offered by Quest Medical Group
Published Support
Research
The Blankenship FCE System is based on hundreds of independently originated research articles which support different aspects of the testing and decision making paradigms. This makes the Functional Capacity Evaluation evidence based.
Results: The sensitivity of the Blankenship FCE System components tested was demonstrated to be 80% and specificity was 84.2%. The positive likelihood ratio was 5 and the negative likelihood ratio was 0.2. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve demonstrated the 70% cut-off value for scoring the FCE was optimal.
Legal Decisions
The ultimate test of a Functional Capacity Evaluation systems utility is how much weight the data originated from the Functional Capacity Evaluation is given in the courts. There are many examples of the Blankenship FCE System being utilized to determine if benefits should be continued or discontinued.
Summary: A Blankenship Functional Capacity Evaluation documented symptom exaggeration, failed validity profile, and improvement upon distraction. Furthermore, the FCE qualified the patient for full-time sedentary physical demand level work which would allow her to return to her previous position. The patient had several physician opinions which claimed she was unable to do any formal work. The judge ruled against the Plaintiff (Lake) and denied long term disability benefits. Furthermore, the judge attested that a Functional Capacity Evaluation is the best way to determine function (over physician opinion).
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association (AMA) has been relied on for decades to establish the best practices for determining Impairment through the Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Partial Impairment. In 1990, they published The Guides to the Evaluation of Functional Ability. The AMA reviewed all commercially available FCE's on the market. The Blankenship FCE system WAS THE ONLY ONE identified as being "a good tool for identifying sincerity of effort given during functional testing".