Occupational Medicine Practice Guidelines, 2nd Edition: Evaluation and Management of Common Health Problems and Functional Recovery in Workers, 2008 Revision

Excerpt

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) first published its Occupational Medicine Practice Guidelines (ACOEM Practice Guidelines or Guidelines) in 1997 to identify effective treatment strategies for injured workers. The ACOEM Practice Guidelines are evidence-based guidelines that focus on returning acutely injured employees to work within 90 days of injury. Given the rising societal expectations for quality of care in addition to the increasing utilization of standardized medical guidelines by state workers’ compensation systems across the nation, ACOEM has committed itself to updating individual chapters on a 3-year rotating basis. This version of the second edition of the Guidelines includes revisions to the chapters on Elbow Disorders, Low Back Disorders, and Chronic Pain. ACOEM also performs an annual review of the literature to identify recently published studies that would significantly impact clinical practice and necessitate earlier revisions to the book to ensure their recommendations remain state-of-the-art. …