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Designing prevention‐oriented software for workplace health and safety
Author(s) -
Maizlish Neil
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0274(199701)31:1<64::aid-ajim10>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - medicine , occupational safety and health , public health , wizard , software , risk analysis (engineering) , medical emergency , nursing , computer science , pathology , world wide web , programming language
Rapid changes in technology and health services organization are propelling information‐driven decision making in all aspects of business. The potential of electronic data processing to reduce costs and increase efficiency has been heralded, but disease and injury prevention have received scant attention. Prevention‐oriented software for surveillance and disability management must generate population‐ and case‐level measures of magnitude and severity of occupational injury and illness. A public domain program, called WIZARD, was developed as a model. With 12 data elements, it generates, from injury and employment files, injury‐ and return‐to‐work rates, avoidable costs, attributable cases using several reference rates, and case lists from screening criteria. In conjunction with an explicit case definition, screening criteria for case follow‐up, and guidelines for medical, disability, and health and safety management, software can play a significant role in prevention. Am. J. Ind. Med. 31:64–74 © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.