Just over a year old, Providence Health Care’s occupational medicine program has grown quickly, with plans to expand next spring, adding a third location from which to provide its services. 

Each Providence occupational medicine program is located within a Providence Urgent Care center, with the first two at 421 S. Division, just southeast of downtown, and at 551 E. Hawthorne, in north Spokane. The third program is set to open next February in the Providence Medical Park at 16528 E Desmet Court in Spokane Valley. 

Launched in June 2014, the program works with employers and injured workers in the Spokane area to offer an integrated approach to treating work-related injuries and conditions. Currently, the program includes the two urgent care facilities, as well as support from emergency departments at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Providence Holy Family Hospital, and physicians and specialists at over 50 clinics in Spokane and Stevens counties. 

The program also coordinates with the services and divisions of local nonprofit Inland Northwest Health Services, specifically St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute, and the Center of Occupational Health & Education (COHE) to provide additional resources to patients.

Both the North Side and downtown programs work closely with St. Luke’s satellite outpatient occupational rehabilitation clinics nearby on worker rehabilitation treatments. 

Tom Martin, program integration manager here for Providence Health Care, describes occupational medicine as a specialized practice that aims to prevent diseases and promote wellness among workers. As such, he says it is often a field that not many physicians are willing to take on. 

“It’s very time intensive and data driven,” says Martin. “We’re really striving to make the program here a regional resource for employers and their workers.” 

He estimates that the program sees about 3,000 injured workers from throughout the Spokane and North Idaho areas annually. 

John Smith, program director of occupational medicine for Providence Health Care, says that by integrating the program within urgent care locations, staff members there are able to quickly identify work-related injuries and start treatment plans. 

“Some of the more acute injuries are able to be identified through triage, and then move into an ongoing management plan quickly,” Smith says. 

Martin adds that the idea is to allow each location to be a kind of one-stop shop for injured workers. 

“Medical management of injuries and individual rehabilitation can all begin in the same place, often the same day,” he says.

The program is divided into two areas, medical management of injuries and employer services. 

Medical management involves helping workers who’ve been injured, from the time of the injury all the way through to recovery and getting back to work. Employer services include regulatory services, such as employment physicals, evaluations, and drug and alcohol testing, Martin says. 

He says part of what allows for the rapid coordination of an injured worker’s care is Providence’s electronic record system called Epic Electronic Medical Record. The system gives physicians and therapists access to the same information at one time, allowing for collaboration on an individual’s care and recovery. 

“It shortens recovery time when everyone is on the same page, and physicians and therapists can come together in real time to discuss treatments. Ultimately, it gets injured workers back on the job faster, when we can see what’s working and coordinate efforts,” says Martin.

He says the most difficult cases are those in which a worker has multiple injuries in different areas of the body. 

“Those are the most difficult, because different therapies treat different injury types. However, because of how our system is set up, we’re able to have our specialists interact, and treat those areas at the same time for overall care,” he says. 

Smith says the program is also able to inherit injury claims from other providers, integrating an individual’s treatment history into the program’s system and providing continuity of care. 

 “Without this process an individual spends additional time trying to coordinate information between multiple providers, going to different locations for treatment,” he says. “That means more time spent not working, and ultimately costs the employer money.” 

Smith also points out there are psychological concerns at times with injured workers who become discouraged with time-consuming paperwork alongside their physical recovery.  

“We want to work with the employee giving them the best care, encouraging them, and giving them incentive to get back to work as soon as possible,” he says. 

Martin says that in many ways, workers can be compared to high-performance athletes, as they need to be in top condition in order to perform a specific job.  

“These people need to be able to function mentally and physically in order to maintain both their employment and their lifestyle,” he says. 

As part of its services, the occupational medicine program also offers employers comprehensive reports with data on the health of their employees. 

These reports include information on the number of injured workers treated, the types of injuries most often seen, which type of workers suffer the most injuries, and what time of day workers report being injured, along with estimates of treatment costs and recovery times of common injuries.

“Each report is customized to the employer and their industry,” says Martin. “It provides a snapshot of the company’s year-to-date costs of injuries, and risk factors that may be leading up to those injuries or delay recovery time once a worker has been injured.”

For Martin, the reports provide a transparency that he feels demonstrates the value of occupational medicine. 

“Employers are data driven, when we can show them data of how many workers we’re seeing, with what injuries, they’re able to focus on those areas and put preventions in place,” he says. 

“Sometimes, these reports can showcase areas where wellness initiatives are needed, or safety measures can be upgraded,” he says. “We’re able to show them that these kinds of programs will save costs down the line, and keep their workers healthier.”

Smith adds that the program also pairs up with a team from INHS to offer employers education on topics such as disease management, smoking cessation, and other wellness-related issues.

“Occasionally, we’ve sent physicians out to worksites, as it helps them get an idea of that individual’s job duties and better estimate when they can be released back to work,” says Smith. “It’s about coordinating with employers to manage the needs and care of this population more efficiently.”

Not only must occupational health physicians know how to evaluate employee fitness, diagnose disease and injury, and recommend rehabilitation methods, but they also have to have knowledge of potential workplace hazards and the laws and regulations concerning workplace health.

Smith says the program has two board-certified occupational health providers, something which sets it apart from competitors. 

“They’re trained to treat exposure to toxic chemicals as well as blood-borne pathogens,” says Smith. “They also know how to balance the needs of workers, employers, and insurance companies, when those needs are often at odds with one another.”

In addition to evaluation, treatment and follow-up for work-related injuries, the program offers radiology and laboratory services, as well as physicals, hearing and vision tests, pre-employment physicals, pulmonary function lung tests, school and sports physicals, and random drug testing. 

Martin says that while Washington State’s legalization of marijuana hasn’t changed the number of employers drug testing their employees, it has caused some workers to misinterpret drug-free policies.

“Workers need to be knowledgeable about their employer’s policies,” he says. “Employers can and do test randomly, in cases of reasonable suspicion, and in post-accident cases.” 

Overall, the goal of Providence Health Care’s occupational medicine program is to provide the community with a healthier workforce, Martin says.   

“Our most recent project has been designing a telemedicine program. By this spring, we’re hoping to bring the expertise of our specialists to rural areas through teleconferencing,” he says. “That way, patients can remain with their primary care provider, while benefiting from the advice of our experts here in the area of occupational therapies and injury treatments.”