Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Urgent Care Occupational Medicine Ensures Worker Safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently investigated a serious case of violations of worker safety standards that led to a 31-year-old factory employee who developed accelerated silicosis ultimately needing a double lung transplant. Other workers at the same home-products manufacturing facility in Chicago also reported unresolved lung disease from breathing silica dust, including severe illness that will require a lung transplant for at least one more employee in the future. Urgent care operators …

Telemedicine Meets Occ Med Rehab in New Concentra Initiative in California

Workers who need to rehab injuries can now do so without schlepping to a physical therapy practice under a new initiative just launched by Concentra in California. The “telerehab” program hooks up employees with workers comp claims with Concentra therapy clinicians from home or work, with the intention of improving compliance and speeding recovery and return to full function on the job. Presumably, the program will be expanded to others states if it’s successful.

Company Has to Pay $1.8 Million After Firing a Worker for Taking Prescribed Meds

These are complicated times for urgent care operators who offer occupational medicine services like employee drug screens. The opioid crisis across the country muddies the waters even more, as state laws and medical practice guidelines seek to inhibit the use of opioid pain medications in order to stem increases in addiction and related deaths. Many employers are following suit, but be mindful that even well-intentioned drug testing programs can have severe consequences—for the company. Most …

Is Retail the Place for Employee Drug Screens and Other Occ Med Testing?

MinuteClinic has made its name by giving customers shots and offering immediate care for low-acuity infections (ie, those for which prescriptions can be dispensed within the store). Now, however, it has announced a plan to partner with Alere eScreen to provide occupational medicine-type services for employers—most notably, including drug screens. The plan is to contract with companies who will send their workers to the CVS-operated clinics for biometric screenings, vaccinations, and Department of Transportation physicals, …

Occ Med Providers Be Warned: Urine Drug Tests Are Easy to Cheat

The ongoing surge in misuse of, and addiction to, opioid pain medications increases the appeal of worker drug testing to many employers, as well as to the federal government. In fact, it’s a cornerstone of efforts to identify people who use opioids inappropriately so they can get help before a tragedy occurs. Since urine tests work and are relatively inexpensive, they’re often employed by urgent care providers who offer occupational medicine services. The problem is …

U.S. HealthWorks Grows Occ Med Business with New Acquisition

U.S. HealthWorks continues to invest heavily in its Florida occupational medicine business, more than doubling its stake there by buying Lakeside Occupational Medical Centers, which operates 14 centers in the Tampa Bay, Lakeland, and Orlando areas. Once the deal is finalized, U.S. HealthWorks will have 27 locations in Florida; they’ll be among 244 medical offices and onsite clinics in 21 states. That makes it one of the largest occupational health and urgent care operators in …

Occ Med Providers: Test for Illegal Drugs in Workers on Opioids for Chronic Pain

Urgent care operators who offer occupational medication services are advised to be on the lookout for illegal drugs when testing workers who take opioid medications for chronic pain. A new report from Ameritox Ltd. indicates that 10.4% of patients who are prescribed opioids to treat chronic pain test positive for at least one illicit drug. Marijuana was the drug identified most often, followed by cocaine, heroin, 3,4 methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA, better known as Ecstasy or Molly) …

Occ Med Providers Need Clarity on Legal Marijuana in Workers

Legal use of marijuana could mean high times for urgent care centers that offer robust occupational medicine services—such as workplace drug testing—provided the operators are up on applicable state laws. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have enacted medical marijuana laws, though the laws in just eight of those states (Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Nevada, New York, and Minnesota) include antidiscrimination or reasonable accommodation provisions for employers. Arizona, Delaware, and Minnesota have laws …