Incorporating Occupational Information in Electronic Health Records: Letter Report

At the request of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Institute of Medicine (IOM) appointed the ad hoc Committee on Occupational Information and Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The overarching charge to the committee was to examine the rationale and feasibility of incorporating occupational information in EHRs and to develop recommendations on next steps for NIOSH and other partners to achieve this goal. More specifically, the committee was asked to analyze the potential benefits of including occupational information in EHRs, examine systems that are currently collecting these data in their EHR in useful ways, and explore the technical challenges that must be overcome in order to facilitate the incorporation of occupational information in EHRs. - P. 1