Practice Management Creating a Health Surveillance Product Line Urgent message: Keeping patients able to perform their jobs is crit- ical to the success of an urgent care occupational medicine program. Donna Lee Gardner, RN, MS, MBA T Pre-placement Screening The UCOM clinical staff should be prepared to provide pre-placement/post-offer physicals to evaluate a poten- tial employee’s physical fitness for a specific job. Certain aspects of these exams are standardized. For example, a basic pre-placement physical typically in- 28 cludes a medical and occupa- tional history, a physical and functional exam, and reports vital signs, height, weight, and visual acuity. Each standard exam should be customized based on the functional demands of the job in question. At a mini- mum, the examining pro- vider should obtain func- tional job descriptions from the employer for each posi- tion for which examinations will be performed. If such descriptions are not available, a comprehensive UCOM practice should be equipped to assist the em- ployer with job analyses and the preparation of written job descriptions, which sup- port many of the components involved in an effective job-placement process. There are two classifications of job analysis: Quantitative job analysis involves measurements such as weight, distance, force, repetition, and speed. Qualitative job analysis may be used to identify spe- cific physical factors that can be addressed through ergonomic interventions and must be done by a pro- fessional with evaluation skills. The importance of taking a functional approach to a pre-placement exam cannot be underestimated. An evaluation based on a functional job description pro- JUCM T h e J o u r n a l o f U r g e n t C a r e M e d i c i n e | A p r i l 2 0 0 8 © Images.com/Corbis o best meet the needs of employers, an urgent care occupational medicine (UCOM) clinic should fea- ture five basic product lines: Ⅲ health surveillance Ⅲ injury/loss management Ⅲ rehabilitation Ⅲ prevention services Ⅲ on-site services This article will address the first of these product lines, health surveillance; the other four will be discussed in subse- quent articles in JUCM. The health surveillance product line is critically im- portant to employers because it helps ensure that employees are physically capable of per- forming their jobs without posing undue risk to them- selves or others. Essential components of the health surveillance prod- uct line include physical exams, drug screening and breath-alcohol testing, and exams mandated by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). w w w. j u c m . c o m