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About X-RTS and the Official X-RTS FCE Protcol

The intellectual property on this site was developed solely by the site owners and is owned solely by the site owners.  No other website is authorized to host our online application, the X-RTS Hand Strength Assessment.  Any statements or representations to the contrary by any third party are factually incorrect.  We sell our products directly to the end user.  We also have authorized sales representatives.  If you would like to contact a sales representative, please do so by clicking on this text.

The X-RTS Hand Strength Assessment and X-RTS Lever Arm have been developed for the specific purpose of classifying validity of effort.  We believe the site visitor will understand from the published studies on the Research Page why the X-RTS FCE protocol is the state of the science in validity of effort testing.  Our goal is to level the playing field for the defense and the claimant by providing the market with tools that objectively classify effort with an unprecedented level of accuracy, as you will see if you read our studies. 

Good science is the first line of defense against the unsupportable "expert witness" testimony that has been allowed to unnecessarily complicate the management of difficult cases.  Our book, Forensic Dissection of an FCE, provides the physician, attorney, case manager and adjuster a convenient step-by-step guide to challenging legally-indefensible FCE reports and expert opinion.  Our Litigation Support services are provided for the same purpose.

The official X-RTS FCE Protocol meets the following requirements:

Requirement No. 1 All cervical spine and all upper extremity patients will be administered the complete X-RTS Hand Strength Assessment.  A "professional opinion" as to whether or not the complete hand strength evaluation is conducted is not an acceptable substitute for administering the complete test.
 
 
 
Requirement No. 2 All non-cervical spine and non-upper extremity patients---in other words persons whose grip and pinch strengths are not directly related to their diagnosis---will be administered the complete X-RTS Hand Strength Assessment if the patient fails the screening process as described in the X-RTS FCE Manual.
 
 
Requirement No. 3 All patients whose lifting capacities do not meet job requirements will be tested on the X-RTS Lever Arm to classify validity of effort.  A "professional opinion" as to whether or not the patient cooperated during the initial testing is not an acceptable substitute for Lever Arm testing.
 
 
Requirement No. 4 Classification of validity of effort will be based on the results of the X-RTS Hand Strength Assessment, the classification of effort during the lifting assessment according to the guidelines taught in class and found in the X-RTS FCE Manual. 
 
 
Requirement No. 5 Clinical assessments which are believed to be indicative of an orthopedic problem will be cross-referenced in methods understood by the certified users.
 
Requirement No. 6 Unsupportable opinions and predictions will not be included in the report.  This includes "predictions," "extrapolations," "projections," and "estimations" of the ability to perform any activity on an "occasional" or "frequent" which are commonly expected and, unfortunately, provided in many FCE reports---but have no scientific foundation.  A clinician administering the official X-RTS FCE will not engage is this kind of unsupportable guesswork.  At the most, a clinician following the official guidelines of the X-RTS FCE will offer only general guidelines and explain the limitations of "extrapolations."  For further information regarding predictions, go here..
 
 
 
 
 
Requirement No. 7 The results of an official X-RTS FCE will be reported in a format that looks like this.

 

"Standard" FCEs use legally-indefensible methods of assessing effort and include extraneous information which complicates case management decision making.  These methods are fully exposed on our Published Studies Page. as well as specifically listed here and here.  Although it is technically possible to incorporate the use of the X-RTS validity of effort testing into protocols which use flawed assessments of effort, such use of our products will not make weak methods stronger.  Rather, this practice will potentially complicate the case.   Therefore, we actively encourage our certified users to avoid this error when conducting assessments for validity of effort.

Contact us by clicking on this sentence. 

 
 

 

X-RTS Software Products and Testing Devices
James D. St. James, Ph.D. and Darrell Schapmire, M.S.
P.O. Box 171, 128 Madison Street
Hopedale, IL 61747     Phone: (309) 449-5483     Fax: (309) 449-6218     ds@xrts.com

Site Copyright 2009 ©.

Intellectual property theft is a federal offense having both civil and criminal consequences. The X-RTS Hand Strength Assessment software and database are protected by US Copyright. The X-RTS devices are protected by registered patents. X-RTS ® is a registered trademark. Intellectual property rights for this site are insured to provide a mechanism to challenge infringement of the trademark, copyrights, patents and all written and digital information associated with this site.  Theft or unauthorized use, reproduction or distribution of the products or information on the pages of this site will be considered as a violation of the intellectual property rights of the site owners.