Rewind 31 years. I am a newly minted MRO discussing a drug screen result with a client and asking this seemingly simple question: “Why do you include alcohol in your (non-regulated) urine drug screen panel?”
As March 2020 began, so did the changes and challenges that we all have endured since then. As a hospital-based occupational health program, it was our responsibility to figure out how to assist our employers in keeping their employees safe and on the job.
This article is written with the goal of alerting other Urgent Care industry experts to an ominous trend in our industry that we must collectively address or we will face marginalization, maybe even extinction, in the years ahead. This may sound alarmist, but please hear me out.
Prior to January 2020, COVID-19 was quickly taking over everywhere except in the United States. However, we were swiftly initiated into the pandemic club. It has now been just over a year since the first case was confirmed. Because the pieces fell rapidly, picking them up has been a balancing act.
The key to justifying an occupational medicine program to your C-Suites is simple. Helping employers with an occupational health program is just plain, good business for health systems. How do you go about the tough sell?
There is none. The federal government and all states still uphold and maintain an employer’s right to drug test and take action against a positive drug test. Despite all the confusion caused by the legalization of medical marijuana, employers are still able to legally drug test, hire, and fire based on a positive marijuana test if they follow the laws within their state for the following reasons:
The course goal is to train technicians to produce valid spirometry test results. Spirometry testing can be fraught with equipment, technique, and data entry errors. NIOSH training addresses each area and incrementally builds attendee knowledge, skills, and the ability to recognize and correct errors.
Defined as ‘the guidance provided by a mentor, especially an experienced person in a company or educational institution,’ mentorship has a definition that only begins to scratch the surface of what a true mentorship program should include.
Mental wellness can profoundly impact an individual’s participation, safety, and productivity in the workplace. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020, mental health is defined as “…a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”.
Most of us working in the field of occupational medicine are familiar with the term “independent medical examination,” most commonly referred to as an IME.