Leveraging the expertise of occupational health partners can improve safety and worker compensation programs. that’s how

Occupational health professionals can be a key resource for employers, employee payers and patients.

Their expertise can help employers prevent injuries, provide guidance on a treatment plan for injured workers, and help control claims costs.

Occupational health professionals often work with employees at various stages of the hiring process, so they are able to serve as a reliable resource for any injured worker who may also be experiencing anxiety during the compensation claim process.

In the event that someone is injured on the job, our doctors understand the work environment these people come from, understand the mechanism of injury, and focus on the injuries to restore function to the individual as quickly as possible, said the dr. John Anderson, DO, FACOEM, executive vice president and chief medical officer, Concentra.

From worker safety to injury treatment

Occupational health care providers treat patients and help ensure safety in the workplace. Their jobs primarily fall into three categories: pre-employment screening, safety training and surveillance, and occupational injury treatment.

Giovanni Gallara, EVP and Chief Clinical Services Officer, Concentra

In the pre-employment phase, occupational health professionals can help ensure that a potential hire is physically qualified to meet the job’s requirements or make suggestions for accommodations that allow them to work safely.

They work with employers to create ADA and EEOC compliant tests to ensure employees are able to perform essential job tasks safely.

All of these things are extremely important to ensure the worker can meet the physical demands of the job over time, said Giovanni Gallara, PT, DPT, executive vice president and director of clinical services at Concentra.

Many of us may perform a task once or twice, but repeating a task over the course of weeks, months and years can potentially create challenges if the worker lacks the right mechanisms and skills.

Occupational health professionals will also help employers conduct workplace safety training and may step in and help employees make ergonomic changes from time to time to prevent injuries.

Employers can partner with occupational health providers to help prevent injuries, Gallara said. These could be things like educating safety managers, examining ergonomics or the readiness and fitness of workers.

No matter how safe a workplace is, injuries will still occur from time to time. In these cases, occupational health professionals, including physical therapists and physicians, will work together to help patients return to their pre-injury level of function.

We are always evaluating the possibility of reducing the risk of re-injury or harm to such individuals by preparing them to return to work safely, Anderson said.

Improved communication and results of complaints

By working with employees and employers at multiple stages of the employment and occupational injury process, occupational health partners can help facilitate reliable communication between all the different parties involved in a workers compensation claim and reduce the anxiety of the injured worker every step of the way.

The benefit of using an occupational health provider who is trained in the nuances of occupational health is to manage and monitor cases. Injuries will happen in the workplace regardless of how safe the environment is, Anderson said.

Using a solid occupational health doctor or group of providers will help the employer and payer manage the case and ultimately manage costs.

Occupational health professionals understand the complexities of workers’ compensation and occupational health and safety standards.

This expertise allows them to work with employers to create an injury triage and reporting plan so that each and every worker injury is properly assessed and treated.

The occupational health clinician really needs to engage with the employer on a regular basis to talk through cases, make recommendations and provide updates, Gallara said.

If the employer doesn’t file a claim quickly, the labor carrier has no visibility into the injury, and that could create some clearance and treatment delays down the road.

Dr. John Anderson, EVP and chief medical officer, Concentra

On-the-job healthcare professionals also provide a familiar face to help patients navigate the workers’ comp system. Workers can feel anxious during the compensation claims process, and seeing a vendor who has helped them with safety training or conducted pre-employment screenings can be comforting.

The occupational health practitioner can really help navigate and allay some of those early anxieties or fears about returning to work or limited duty, Gallara said.

These workers are basically seeing these doctors, these therapists, these athletic trainers in their workplaces, so there’s an understanding that these doctors have assisted, experienced, made recommendations, and understood their day-to-day needs. If and when an injury occurs, go to those same doctors and see them for actual injury care, that provides a much better level of assurance and understanding of that injured worker.

Selecting an occupational health partner

The demand for these occupational health experts is only on the rise. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be an average of 4,500 openings for occupational health and safety specialists each year in the decade between 2021 and 2031.

As employers learn the value of working with these physicians, they may wonder what particular skill or training they should look for when selecting their partners.

It’s really important that employers understand, if they’re going to partner with a group of doctors, to really ask some questions about occupational health, Gallara said.

If you think about medical and physical therapy school curricula, there really isn’t a lot of focus on the nuance of occupational health.

Anderson and Gallara recommend seeking a partner who works with experts in multiple disciplines, including physical therapy and more traditional providers.

With a multidisciplinary team in place, injured workers will be treated by physicians who coordinate with each other throughout the life cycle of an accident.

That patient is basically cared for by a multidisciplinary team who communicate in real time, often with the patient as part of that decision-making process, Gallara said.

They also note the importance of finding a partner who has extensive experience in dealing with health and safety issues within a work environment and who has received training in the intricacies of occupational medicine.

These physicians will understand the importance of building a relationship with their patients and will be able to target the needs of injured workers throughout the compensation claim process.

Our occupational health training for our doctors is all about developing a relationship with that patient, Anderson said.

Our doctors are trained to understand the anxieties and stresses patients have, fears of returning to work, and are equipped to address them in advance to establish a relationship with that patient to generate trust in the treatment plan. &