Guidance and Position 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.
Prevention of Occupational Heat-Related Illnesses

This statement by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine provides guidance for OEM providers who serve workers and employers in industries where heat exposure occurs.

10/07/2021 By Aaron Tustin, MD, Yusef Sayeed, MD, Manijeh Berenji, MD, et al., ACOEM Work Group on Occupational Heat-Related Illness
The Future of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

This guidance document addresses the current state of OEM practice and education, and the challenges faced regarding the training of future OEM physicians. This Board-approved article has been submitted to JOEM for publication. However, due to the importance of the material contained in this paper, ACOEM is releasing it prior to its publication in JOEM.

09/27/2021 By Judith Green-McKenzie, MD, Alya Khan, MD, Carrie Redlich, MD, Aisha Rivera, MD, Zeke McKinney, MD, ACOEM Presidential Task Force on Future of OEM Workforce
Proposed Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies Related to Climate Change: Guidance for OEM Professionals

This guidance statement from ACOEM focuses on the different strategies that OEM health professionals can implement to protect workers from health impacts associated with climate change hazards, foster workplace resilience in the face of rapidly changing environments, and take the necessary steps to mitigate the effects of global climate change.

09/12/2021 By Ismail Nabeel MD; Yohama Caraballo-Arias, MD; Brett Perkison, MD; Ronda McCarthy; Pouné Saberi, MD; Manijeh Berenji, MD; Rose Goldman, MD; et al.
Occupational Spirometry and Fit Testing in the COVID-19 Era: 2021 Interim Recommendations from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Though the COVID-19 pandemic persists, and the impact of viral mutation-driven variants remains uncertain, ACOEM is updating its guidance for performing more widespread spirometry. The guidance remains interim due to the rapidly evolving understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 can be best controlled. This ACOEM guidance document is intended to help occupational health clinical service providers minimize risks to patients and health care personnel.

09/01/2021 By Philip Harber, MD, MPH; Mary C. Townsend, DrPH; Michael J. Levine, MD, MPH
ACOEM Supports COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates for Health Care Workers

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) recommends that COVID-19 vaccination be mandated for all health care workers (HCWs).  

07/31/2021
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