Integrating Functional Outcomes with Clinical Measures
Tuesday, July 24, 2018 10:00:00 AM PDT - 11:30:00 AM PDT
Join us for a special NIOSH Total Worker Health (TWH) and Center for Workers' Compensation Studies (CWCS) webinar on Tuesday, July 24, 1- 2:30 pm Eastern, in which Dr. Kathryn Mueller and Dr. T. Warner Hudson will explore the benefits of integrating functional outcomes with clinical process measures as a basic approach to patient care in the US. The speakers will also: • Discuss the broad challenges to our health care system that make a transition to this new approach imperative • Examine the connection between medical care and disability, • Review research supporting a functionally based approach to health care, and • Describe a basic path that will make possible a shift of the US health care system toward the integration of functional and clinical process measures for patients. Each year, millions of American workers develop health problems that may temporarily or permanently remove them from the workforce. Although most are able to work again after a brief recovery period, in approximately 10% of cases, workers incur injuries or illnesses severe enough to lead to prolonged or permanent withdrawal from the workforce. For individuals, life disruptions caused by serious illness or injury are compounded by the economic impact of being out of work. Although workers' compensation and other programs assist injured and ill workers, these programs do not fully cover economic loss and the health care costs brought on by functional impairment, nor can they begin to ameliorate the personal costs and burdens of significant life-disruptions. By considering functional outcomes with Total Worker Health approaches in workplaces, organizations and occupational safety and health providers and practitioners may begin to better address the challenges faced by workers experiencing these injuries and illnesses. A preventive approach based in TWH concepts may help mitigate risk factors potentially affecting workers both on the job and at home. Free Continuing Education credits for this event are pending.