A Wisconsin health system has become one of the first in the nation to collect patient occupation data in its EHR.
Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System will now regularly ask patients 16 years and older what industries they work in to learn how their jobs might be affecting their health. Patients can decline and don't have to specify their employers. More than 4,000 patients shared the data during the pilot stage the past few months, informing their providers' treatment plans.
"We will be one of the few health systems in the country equipped to examine health data in light of someone's work," said Casper Bendixsen, PhD, director of the National Farm Medicine Center at Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, in a June 7 news release.
The health system noted that Wisconsin is a good place to launch this technology, as many residents work in risky occupations such as construction, transportation and agriculture.