Guidelines on rehabilitation - Rehabilitation Management in the German Social Accident Insurance -key-elements-

9 Social Accident Insurance Institutions (UV institutions) in the German industrial sector insure around 3,3 million employers and over 60 million employees covering the risk of personal damages in work or commuting accidents and occupational diseases. Together with the 27 UV institutions in the public sector, which also insure children in kindergarten, school or universities, all UV institutions are members of a federal association, the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) in Berlin. The DGUV (www.dguv.de) provides a platform i.e. for mutual guidelines among the UV institutions and contracts with service-providers based on legal and structural principles. According to the Social Code Nr. 7 the UV institutions are liable for health and safety at work, for medical treatment, including rehabilitation and inclusion at work and in society, and compensation comprising pensions. The German UV institutions, run by social partners as non-for-profit organisations and financed only by employers´ contributions, are mainly focussed on reintegration of insured persons back to the previous work-place (return to work). The following recommendations of the DGUV dated on 25 February 2008 have been consented for ensuring an equal treatment among the UV institutions, because rehabilitation management is not only very successful, but also very cost-intensive. Global experiences prove that 20 per cent of all cases causes about 80 per cent of all costs of payers of rehabilitation.