Workers
Our Work-Health Coaching for workers prevents work disability through our expert one-on-one support and coordination of employment, healthcare, and social services.
Who We Serve
Care Teams
We connect care teams to real-time occupational health resources and services to help keep patients working safely and productively.
Employers
Our employer training program helps build a psychologically healthy workplace culture and manage employee medical leave to improve employee retention.
Insurers
We help navigate across healthcare, employment, and social services, removing barriers to recovery and return-to-work, reducing work disability costs.
State Governments
We partner with state agencies, offering consulting and train-the-trainer programs to develop work-health best practices and promote system-level changes that strengthen and improve workforce health.
Schools
We provide expert one-on-one support to help students with injuries and illnesses remain in school.
Why We Matter
A record number of people are leaving the workforce due to their health. People with work-limiting health conditions lack access to coordinated services to maintain employment. Mental conditions are the most common cause of work disability, yet most interventions are for physical conditions. Unemployment is associated with poor health, 30% higher healthcare use, and costs U.S. employers $575B annually in lost productivity. Fewer than one third of U.S. employers accurately track employee medical leave. Yet, most work disability is preventable. Work Health CoLab offers an award-winning return-to-work program to help people with physical or mental health conditions work safely and productively. Our unique approach includes Work-Health Coaching, Occupational Medicine support, best practice trainings, and LINK~VT, a digital resource hub that supports workers by coordinating access to employment, health, and social service resources using large language modeling for customized recommendations.
Does your Rural Health Transformation Program retain employees?
Here are some ways to integrate work retention into RHTP initiatives. Our team can help you understand which strategies best fit your state priorities.
1. Are you enhancing or standardizing Human Resources (HR) systems?
Tracking and managing employee leave will expedite safe return to work. Include Employee Assistance Programs to maximize worker health, retention, and productivity.
Fact: Fewer than 1/3 of employers adequately track employee medical leave.
2. Are you enhancing or standardizing Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems?
Build work status into EMR dashboards to identify patients are at risk for work disability.
Fact: Most work disability is preventable but patient work status is not included in EMR dashboards.
3. Are you expanding access to eConsults and Telehealth?
Include Work eConsults for timely and accurate completion of work forms by occupational experts to help keep patients working. Less clinician time doing paperwork also means more clinical access.
Fact: Clinicians play a key role in helping patients work but lack support to address patient work needs.
4. Are you expanding or implementing a Community Health Worker team?
Include stay-at-work/return-to-work best practice training for Community Health Workers to successfully address patient work needs.
Fact: Most Community Health Workers do not have training to support patient work needs.
5. Are you expanding your healthcare workforce?
Include training on workplace hazards and work disability prevention to reduce future employee medical leave.
Fact: Recruiting healthcare workers without supporting retention will lead to worker exit.
6. Are you increasing mental health and community support within Primary Care teams, building Hub and Spoke Care Systems, or addressing chronic disease?
Embed Work-Health Coaching in care teams and spoke teams to help patients with health conditions work safely and productively.
Fact: Supporting patients’ ability to work reduces the prevalence of chronic disease and mental health conditions, amplifies the value of community support, and decreases reliance on social services, yet most individuals facing work disability aren’t connected to work-promoting services in the primary care setting.