Occupational Medicine in Today’s Economy
Like you, I have spent much time recently thinking about business, the economy and what lies ahead. One thing I do know for sure and what I have already heard more than once is that a big advantage the Treasure Valley has over many other areas is our pool of skilled laborers is quite large because of recent lay-offs. This has been reflected in the number of businesses looking to make our area their home as they consider expansion.
However, along with this, as we have positions open up in our area we also will need to be more careful about who we hire. In the past when a position opened you may have had 10 – 20 people applying for the job. With an increase in unemployment that figure will undoubtedly double or even triple in the future. Because of this you will definitely need to be more selective (and do not forget that this is also a good thing) and cautious about who you hire. Spring is coming and many of you will have increases and this will be an excellent opportunity to develop a sturdy workforce.
So what is Saltzer Occupational Medicine and Saltzer Medical Group doing to try to help you with this? First of all, we not only have a Board Certified Occupational Medicine Physician, but he did his residency in occupational medicine as well. Studies have shown over and over again that an Occupational Medicine physician can reduce claims by 50%! For thirty years Dr. Shoemaker has done nothing but occupational medicine. There is not an injury that he has not seen.
I would find it interesting to know how many of you understand how complex things like DOT physicals are. Many people believe that it is just a standard physical. Wrong! The other day Dr. Shoemaker showed me all of the different specifications for just the cardiac portion of the physical and I was stunned to learn that it was twenty-three pages long. There are actually sixteen pages of specifications for diabetes alone. To protect yourself and your employee, it is vital that you use someone who remains up-to-date on all of these constantly changing DOT physical specifications.
Other services that Saltzer is providing you with are drug screens and pre-placement functional tests. We are now offering eScreen which is very affordable and extremely efficient for the employer. When you send someone into us for a drug screen at any of our three locations, if they test negative you will have your results in approximately 15 minutes on your computer right in your office. No waiting for phone calls or for the potential new hire to get back to you. So what is the cost of this? $23.00, and this includes an MRO (Medical Review Officer) if needed. There are no hidden costs. We also offer DOT drug screens.
Another preventative service we offer through our rehab services is a program called WorkSteps, which I have always referred to as pre-placement functional tests. This is a physical test which is continuing to gain national recognition as one of the most efficient and affordable methods of developing a strong workforce and reducing workers’ comp claims. WorkSteps is where a Physical Therapist goes to your worksite and views a particular job function. They then go back to our rehab gyms and recreate this job. As you consider people for employment, first send them into rehab services and they will actually have to perform the job itself. One of the very nice things about this is that unlike drug screens, you can pick and choose which areas that you have these tests for. In other words, you can pick the areas that have had the most workers’ comp claims and have new hires for that department do a WorkSteps test.
I think that we would all agree that with the current economic climate, it is more important than ever to watch every penny and to hire the best workforce we can. I hope that you feel that Saltzer Occupational Medicine and Saltzer Medical Group in general is doing everything we can to partner with you to reduce your workers’ compensation costs.
Tags: Howard Shoemaker MD, occ health, occ med, occupational health, occupational medicine, saltzer, Shoemaker, treasure valley
