The covid pandemic forced many industries to transition to virtual working, if not fully, then to a large extent. Complex works were successfully managed virtually. As a result, the world learnt a new way of working, virtually.
During pandemic, home became the new office and health concerns, both physical and mental soon started to show up.
Virtual consultations which were not so common in healthcare, eventually became a norm. A lot of health concerns of the employees were resolved virtually, including some of the work-related (occupational) issues.
With no prior experience in working in a virtual environment, the OH physicians in industries rose to the occasion during the pandemic and handled even complex employee health concerns online. In fact, health issues including occupational health (OH) issues were so well managed virtually during the pandemic that it caught the admiration of many industry leaders.
If some of the work-related concerns could be managed virtually with reasonable success for 2 years, isn’t it reasonable to consider if it is possible to continue providing healthcare services online also, in addition to occasionally working offline (in person).
With the successful outcomes of managing some of the work-related issues online during the pandemic, the author proposes to industries, big and small to consider the option of establishing Occupational Health (OH) virtually.
With occasional on-site visits, use of technology and communication skills, providing virtual routine healthcare and virtual Occupational Health is a sustainable option.
If virtual OH (Occupational Health) is here to stay, then to make it even more useful and effective requires refinement, as well as adding more services. This is because during the pandemic, only urgent work-related (occupational) health issues were managed virtually, perhaps for the first time in history on a mass-scale.
The experience of managing urgent work-related health issues during the pandemic has encouraged the author to take Virtual OH to the next level, that is, to offer those OH services that were not available earlier.
With occasional on-site visits, use of technology and communication skills, providing virtual routine healthcare and OH is sustainable in future.
OH can be as useful in an online world as it was in the offline world.
Patients prefer virtual consultations and avoid face-to-face consultations unless a physical examination is absolutely necessary. It saves patient time and the effort to travel to see a doctor.
Virtual OH can help workers avoid already crowded doctor’s office and emergency rooms for some of their health issues, including those that are work-related. It is a safe option for supporting worker health wherever they are located.
Virtual OH services available to both remote and on-site employees should be defined as it may not be possible to offer every service virtually.
Organizations benefit by virtual OH as they get timely medical advice at any time and place thus avoiding unnecessary emergency care for minor emergencies without diluting the necessary level of care.
Many injuries can be treated conservatively by virtual OH thereby avoiding costs for organizations who might be footing the bill for emergency room visits when they aren’t necessary.
Some of OH services that can be managed virtually are:
- Routine medical consultations
- Medical consultations to evaluate if illness is work-related
- Medical care for work-related injuries and illnesses
- Initial injury evaluation and treatment
- First aid program
- Advise on provision of psychological first aid support
- Sick leave evaluations
- Advice on management of sickness absence
- Return-to-work strategies (including rehab)
- Occupational Health Risk Assessments
- Devising protocol on pre-employment medical check
- Protocols on annual health checks
- Specialized medical checks (food-handlers, drivers, etc.)
- Workstation (computer-related) ergonomics
- Manual handling protocols
- Advise on travel health
- Management of food and water safety
- Support on self-verification checklist
- Vaccination advice
- Relevant health advisories
- Health education to employees on relevant issues
- Ongoing follow-up and support. Etc.
Virtual OH is especially beneficial in simple operations, like companies having offices, with the OH physician requiring to make fewer site visits.
Complex operations, like factories and plants also benefit with virtual OH if visits to the site by the OH physician are made frequently as appropriate.
There are various reasons why some companies have not established OH services, foremost being lack of awareness, in addition to other logistic considerations.
With virtual OH, the services mentioned above can prove beneficial to employees as well as the companies, compared to a total absence of it.
However, virtual medical consultations may not always be useful in life-threatening conditions. To manage life-threatening conditions, establishing a robust first aid program along with ambulance service and liaison with nearby multi-specialty hospitals helps.
A 2021 study has shown that advice taken by on-site paramedics (nurses) via virtual consultation from a physician trained in emergency medicine helps improve patients’ vital parameters during prehospital transfer.
Virtual OH consultations are useful to evaluate non-life-threatening, work-related illnesses and injuries, including:
- Minor (Grade 1 and 2) sprains and strains
- Tendinitis
- Repetitive-use injuries
- Minor (first-degree) burns
- Bruises and abrasions
- Skin rashes
The author has the experience of virtually managing healthcare including wellness OH programs for offices (in cities and towns) and remote locations while working for a large corporation in Oman. During pandemic a lot of healthcare activities (including OH activities) were managed virtually by the author for corporations in India.
OH can be as useful in an online (virtual) world as it was in the offline (in person) world!
For more info on Virtual OH, contact
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Dr Ajay Sati is an Occupational Health physician who prefers to describe himself as an Occupationist, to denote, ‘an expert in diseases and other concerns of occupations’. Dr Sati has managed health and wellness programs in industries he worked, like the atomic energy, and energy (oil & gas) in India and overseas. He was involved in many greenfield and brownfield projects providing inputs from health point of view. Known for SOPs and protocols, he is currently involved with an energy MNC in designing protocols to support employees during the covid pandemic, and protocols to safely reopen offices and plants.
