Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE): What It Is and How It Works
What an FCE is, who performs one, how the results are used, and what separates a defensible evaluation from one that falls apart under scrutiny.
The practice
What a cost of future care plan does
A cost of future care or life care plan projects the care a person will reasonably need over their lifetime, how often, for how long, and at what cost. It is a growing field across Canada and the United States as insurers, attorneys, and courts rely on it more.
Who relies on it
Patients
Having the care they will need over their lifetime counted, so a settlement or award reflects their real future.
Who relies on it
Insurers
Setting reserves and settling claims on a realistic picture of what care will cost over time.
Who relies on it
Legal professionals
Understanding what an injury means for someone's future, and testing the other side's numbers.
Who relies on it
Courts
Weighing an objective, well-sourced projection when future care is part of the award.
The process
How a plan is built
Every plan follows the same arc, from the referral question to a finished report. The clinical reasoning at each step is what separates a defensible plan from a list of services.
Referral and case analysis
Define the question, the case, and what the plan needs to answer.
Record review
Organize the medical and rehabilitation history into what matters for the future.
Functional assessment
Establish what the person can and cannot do, with FCE findings where they exist.
Future care needs
Identify medical, therapy, equipment, attendant care, environmental, and support needs.
Recommendations
Build recommendations that stay within scope and are supported by evidence or consultation.
Frequency and duration
Set how often, for how long, and when each item will need replacing.
Cost research
Price every item from current, appropriate, and documented sources.
The report
Bring it together in a plan whose reasoning a reader can follow line by line.
Defensibility
What makes a plan hold up
A plan is only as strong as the reasoning behind each line. The goal is not a list of anticipated services, but a coherent plan that explains what future care is reasonably required and why.
Future care, not current treatment
The plan projects what will reasonably be needed, not a list of what is happening now.
Individual, not diagnosis-driven
Prognosis, function, aging, environment, and psychosocial factors shape the plan, not the diagnosis alone.
Inside your scope
Recommendations stay within your profession, with consultation where another discipline is needed.
Every item sourced
Each recommendation and each cost can be traced to the information that supports it.
Reasoning that reads clearly
Insurers, attorneys, other clinicians, and courts can see what is needed, why, how often, and at what cost.
From soft-tissue injuries to catastrophic cases
- Soft-tissue injuries
- Orthopedic injuries
- Complex pain
- Traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Mental health diagnoses
Where functional capacity evaluation fits
Functional findings are the backbone of a plan: what someone can do today shapes what they will need tomorrow. That is why FCE training is strongly recommended before you take the Cost of Future Care / Life Care Planner course. Explore FCE training.
Learn it at Matheson
Step into a new area of practice
This is not an introductory course. It takes rehabilitation professionals who already assess function and disability into a different kind of work, with its own standards, its own readers, and its own scrutiny. It was built by instructors with decades of private practice and expert witness experience, and the CFC/LCP credential is the next step: proof, through your own reports, that your plans meet the standard.
Cost of Future Care / Life Care Planner
Online prerequisite modules, then two days live with an instructor: clinical reasoning, report writing, responding to and critiquing reports, court and expert practice, and complex and catastrophic injury.
- Strongly recommendedFCE training first
- LevelAdvanced, for experienced clinicians
- FormatLive, in person or by live stream
- CE credits1.4 CEUs
- NextNo live dates on the schedule yet
The CFC/LCP credential
After the course, you can earn the Certified Cost of Future Care / Life Care Planner credential. Submit 5 cost of future care or life care planning reports on clients with catastrophic or complex injuries or diagnoses; 2 are reviewed by a Matheson instructor for a defensible methodology and properly sourced costs.
- Earned byYour own reports, reviewed
- EligibilitySet out on the certification page
Who it's for
Who does this work?
Rehabilitation professionals who already assess function and disability, and want to apply that expertise in insurance and medical-legal settings.
- Occupational therapists
- Physical therapists
- Vocational counselors
- Rehabilitation counselors
- Kinesiologists, after CV review
FCE training is strongly recommended for everyone. Admission and certification also depend on your background and experience, and some applicants need a CV review. The CFC/LCP page has the details.
Resources
Related reading
Functional findings carry a plan, so defensible FCE practice is the closest reading.
What Makes a Functional Capacity Evaluation Defensible?
Defensibility isn't about equipment or protocol. It's about whether the evaluator can explain why the evidence supports the conclusion.
Plans that hold up under review
A cost of future care plan will be read by people looking for its weak points. Matheson training prepares you to build one without them.