Guidance Statements

Guidance and Position Statements

ACOEM provides recommendations for occupational health professionals on managing various situations which may arise in their practice or state the College’s position on a particular subject. These documents may be based upon the scientific literature or consensus opinion.

ACOEM OEM Core Competencies – 2021

Competency is defined as possession of sufficient physical, intellectual, and behavioral qualifications to perform a task or serve in a role which adequately accomplishes a desired outcome. Recognizing the need for defining competencies essential to occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) physicians, ACOEM developed its first set of OEM Competencies in 1998 and later updated them in 2008 and 2014. The increasing globalization and modernization of the workplace, along with published research on OEM practice, required this update in 2021 to ensure OEM physicians stay current with the field and practice of OEM. Due to the importance of the material contained in these revised OEM Competencies, this peer-reviewed document was made available in March 2021 prior to publication in the July 2021 issue of JOEM.

07/07/2021 By Natalie P. Hartenbaum, MD; Beth A. Baker, MD; Jeffrey L. Levin, MD; Kenji Saito, MD; Yusef Sayeed, MD; Judith Green-McKenzie, MD; Work Group on OEM Competencies

ACOEM Tip Sheet on Coding Evaluation and Management Encounters for Workers’ Compensation

In 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented new rules for coding outpatient Evaluation and Management (E&M) encounters. Under the new rules, providers can now use time-based or medical decision making (MDM) based coding for encounters that follow CMS rules. Many, but not all, workers’ compensation (WC) insurance providers have also adopted the new rules. Therefore, ACOEM developed this tip sheet to assist providers of WC care in appropriately documenting care using the new coding model.

06/30/2021 By Marianne Cloeren, MD, MPH; Kathryn L. Mueller, MD, MPH; Douglas W. Martin, MD; Jill A. Rosenthal, MD, MPH, MA; Robert C. Blink, MD, MPH; Tanisha K. Taylor, MD, MPH, MBA

Occupational and Environmental Medicine: Clinical or Administrative Licenses – Which Is Correct for You?

This guidance statement is intended to help occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) physicians determine what type of medical license they should hold – a clinical or an administrative license. And what they should do if they are advised by their state licensing body to apply for an administrative license instead of a clinical license, and they disagree.

06/29/2021 By James W. Butler, MD, MPH; Beth A. Baker, MD, MPH; Mary Jo Capodice, DO, MPH, MBA; Kathryn L. Mueller, MD, MPH; James A. Tacci, MD, JD, MPH; Tanisha K. Taylor, MD, MPH, MBA

Safely Returning America to Work Part II: Industry-Specific Guidance

This guidance statement was approved by the ACOEM in January 2021. Due to the importance of the material contained in this peer-reviewed document, it was made available in March 2021, prior its being published in JOEM. The document was formally published in the June 2021 issue of JOEM.

06/05/2021 By Tanisha Taylor, MD; Rupali Das, MD; Kathryn Mueller, MD; Glenn Pransky, MD; Philip Harber, MD; Robert McLellan, MD; Natalie Hartenbaum, MD; Amy Behrman, MD; Deborah Roy, RN; Robert Blink, MD

Use of Contact Lenses in an Industrial Environment

This guidance statement from ACOEM addresses the use of contact lenses and personal protective equipment by the industrial worker and provides recommendations for contact lens use in an eye-hazardous environment.

05/14/2021 By Kenji Saito, MD, and Jeff K. Hovis, OD, MS, PhD

Workers’ Compensation Elements in Different Jurisdictions in the United States

In this guidance statement, ACOEM lays out a description of various aspects of workers’ compensations systems in the United States, with recommendations for minimal standards and best practices in workers’ compensation.

12/07/2020 By Tanisha K. Taylor, MD, MPH; Kathryn L. Mueller, MD, MPH; Robert C. Blink, MD, MPH; David W. McKinney, MD, MPH; Warren Silverman, MD; Rupali Das, MD, MPH; ACOEM Work Group on Workers’ Compensation

Safely Returning America to Work Part I: General Guidance for Employers

This guidance statement is intended to provide return-to-work guidance for both employers and the OEM physicians who will be supporting businesses to implement safe return-to-work strategies.

09/10/2020 By Tanisha Taylor, MD, MPH; Rupali Das, MD, MPH; Kathryn Mueller, MD, MPH; Glenn Pransky, MD; Jennifer Christian, MD, MPH, Robert Orford, MD, MPH; Robert Blink, MD, MPH; Work Group on Return to Work

Occupational Spirometry and Fit Testing in the COVID-19 Era: Updated Recommendations from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

ACOEM is providing this updated guidance on how to safely conduct spirometry and fit testing in the COVID-19 era

07/10/2020 By Philip Harber, MD, MPH, FACOEM, ATSF; Michael J. Levine, MD, MPH, FACOEM; and Mary C. Townsend, DrPH

ACOEM Calls for National Mandate Requiring Use of Masks to Contain the Spread of COVID-19

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) calls for the immediate adoption of a national mandate to require the wearing of a mask or other face covering in public.

07/08/2020