Occupational Health Services

Our Philosophy

Conservative Quality Medical Care
The most important diagnostic tools used at Regional FirstCare will be the history and physical examination. Employers will be comfortable that further medical testing or procedures will only be performed if medically necessary. Only medical therapies of proven efficiency will be employed. Specialty referrals also will be done only when the injury or illness warrants, and are expected to occur in only a small minority of patients.

Communication
Timely communication to the employer concerning the status of the ill or injured employee is critical for your business contingency planning. It is our policy at Regional FirstCare Occupational Health Services to communicate with the employer as soon as possible by phone and/or fax following the patient encounter so that the employer can evaluate the need for worker replacement. In addition, recommendations for accommodated duty will be made at this time. Physical examination and urine drug screen results also will be communicated in a timely fashion to allow employers to plan work schedules.

Early Return to Activity and Work
One of the most important principles of therapy for occupational injuries is that patients improve more quickly with early return to activity and/or work. This may often be accomplished in the workplace environment by allowing the worker to return to work with a temporary workplace accommodation or modification. Accommodated work avoids the "disability mind set" inherent in the workers compensation system. If accommodated work is not available, the patient may be encouraged to begin early return to physical activity at home within the scope of their injury.

Case Management
All patients seen at Regional FirstCare Occupational Health Services will have close medical follow-up to monitor their condition carefully. This allows application of the early return to activity and work therapy. In addition, patients are administratively managed to decrease indemnity costs of workers compensation. Most expenses incurred by the employer after a workers compensation injury are related to lost time and wages, not medical care. In many cases, workers compensation patients are only loosely followed and there may be a delay in return to work because of missed appointments and inadequate follow-up. Even after a specialty referral is made, the worker will continue to be seen in our clinic on a routine basis so that return to work issues and administrative needs continue to be addressed. Follow-up appointments and specialty referrals that are not met will be reported to the employer as non-compliance with the treatment plan.

Prevention is Better Than Cure
Occupational medicine is a preventive medicine specialty. All clients of Regional FirstCare Occupational Health Services will be informed of the preventive services available and will be encouraged to use these services when it is apparent that preventable injuries or illnesses are occurring.

Customer Service
Each client company of Regional FirstCare Occupational Health Services will be surveyed concerning the best hours of operation for their company and for special services that may be needed. To the best of our ability, we will provide these hours and services.