If you plan to celebrate Thanksgiving with an extra piece of pumpkin pie, you might need to eat a salad and run an extra mile or two next week. If you’re one of the 29 million U.S. adults who suffer from Type 2 diabetes, however, your challenges are more serious. Diabetes mellitus is an endocrine disorder […]
Books, articles and commentaries abound on the value of empowering people to take a more active role in managing their own health.
What is occupational medicine? According to Wikipedia, occupational medicine specialists work to ensure that the highest standards of occupational health and safety can be achieved and maintained. While it may involve a wide number of disciplines, it centers on the preventive medicine and management of illness, injury or disability that is related to the workplace. […]
An electronic medical record (EMR) system that is maintained separately from an enterprise-wide EMR is a key contributor to an occupational health program’s success. Having invested in a global EMR system, hospitals and clinic networks understandably want to maximize the system’s capabilities. However, large-scale inpatient and ambulatory care EMR systems are not designed to manage […]
The term surveillance generally refers to “keeping a watchful eye over someone or something.” In the workplace, surveillance programs have been used to screen individuals for potential over-exposures (such as to lead) or disease development (such as asbestosis). In a more broad sense, programs can be used to observe the health of populations for the […]
An injured employee’s attitude that they will return to work safely has a lot more to do with expectations than the nature of the injury. People who are empowered by their caregivers to get better are much more likely to return to full function. The longer a case takes to resolve, the greater the likelihood […]
The American comedian Ron White says, “You can’t fix stupid!” However, in the workplace you can prevent some of the stupidity caused by mental fatigue.
In a recent post, I discussed the rights of healthcare organizations to mandate flu vaccinations and for employees to decline them. Other types of industries are also wrestling with this issue. Many employers have business needs, worker protection and public health concerns that may justify a flu vaccine policy.
Infectious disease risks often pose a serious problem in the workplace. From the seasonal flu to respiratory diseases, a plethora of infectious diseases is responsible for worker illnesses, and in worse-case scenarios, death.