Disease Management and Work Comp - Part 1

Saturday, May 25, 2002 | 0

Risk managers at the recent RIMS conference in New Orleans this year were warned about increasing issues with disease related work workers' compensation claims at medical and health care facilities. In particular, safety programs should include attention to dirty diapers and people who cough because of various communicable diseases.

Experts warned of huge work comp issues arising from unsterilized medical equipment and contaminated needles. Workers in hospitals and nursing homes, prisons, medical laboratories and day-care centers must take measures to keep their work environments safe from hepatitis-B, tuberculosis and HIV.

TB and hepatitis B and C are diseases with a high probability of occupational risk according to Natalie Firestone, a registered nurse and vice president of Healthcare Risk Management for Near North Health Care Practice in Chicago. Because TB is highly communicable, it presents a particular risk. TB primarily attacks the lungs, but can also spread to the spine, kidney and other parts of the body. While TB deaths are high in the 20-49 year-old population, TB deaths in the United States are on the rise because of the HIV-AIDS epidemic, and because of immigration of people with a high TB rate in their country.

TB spreads easily just by talking with someone that is infected, singing, coughing and sneezing. TB can be cured in its active stage so vigilance as to symptoms is important in managing risk. Symptoms include a cough that goes on for weeks with no sign of improvement, chest pain, fever, chills, weight loss and night sweats.

Healthcare workers are most as risk from an industrial standpoint because they see patients every day who may come in with a cough or night sweats, and the nurse or physician fails to assess the risk accurately.

Workers outside the health care industry that face a particular risk of TB infection include correctional institution employees, those at homeless shelters (don