Are You Fit for Work?

EIM is glad to announce having acquired a great company called Fit for Work. Fit for Work is an occupational health company that contracts directly with both large and small employers to provide occupational health and safety services (injury prevention, early intervention, ergonomic evaluation, functional capacity evaluation, OSHA compliance programs and safety training, etc.). Founded in 1998, founding partners Tom Tobin and Keith Adamson built their business on a non-traditional service model focused on injury prevention and early intervention. Fit for Work has assembled an outstanding team with a great reputation and credibility with their clients. Their track record speaks for itself, having demonstrated cost and injury reductions on the order of 60% for almost every one of their clients, including the likes of Frito Lay North America and H. E. Butt Grocery Company (H-E-B).

Some of you will be asking the obvious question..."How does this relate to EIM?" The answer is actually quite simple. The genesis of our merger is hinged on a shared belief that there exists a great opportunity to elevate health care delivery in the workplace and that the current model is in dire need of reform. As an example, the traditional Workers’ Compensation system (a space that many PT providers operate) is a high-volume business riddled with inefficiencies and focus on post OSHA recordable injury rehabilitation, which translates into major costs. However, employers are the most important health care payer in the United States and should be viewed as supply chain partners rather than primarily a source from which to extract rehabilitation revenue. The Fit for Work model is based on an underlying belief that putting the right worker in the right place in as safe a manner as possible will result in decreased costs, decreased injuries, increased profitability, and increased productivity (ie, early intervention = manageable costs). By focusing on prevention and early intervention, employers trust that Fit for Work is a committed partner whose interests are aligned with theirs. Fit for Work and EIM share a strategic vision of growing and developing the direct employer health care contracting business, so the combination makes great strategic sense.

EIM has developed strategic relationships with many high quality physical therapy providers around the country and is privileged to be associated with so many quality providers in the EIM community. As an example, one of our strategic partnerships is with Jeff Hathaway from ProActive Physical Therapy to develop Evidence@Work(TM) EBP guidelines. A major focus of our strategy going forward will be to develop a national network of providers interested in providing the same high quality occupational health services to employers under the direct to employer contracting model. By aligning the Fit for Work brand with high quality providers around the country, Fit for Work Partners can deliver the same high quality occupational health services to both large and small employers all over the country. Not unlike providers under the traditional Workers' Compensation system, commercial insurers are also motivated by profit maximization, which requires doing more procedures and increasing utilization wherever it can. We are optimistic regarding the future and think that direct employer contracting in occupational health care is just the first step.

More details will become available in the coming months, but if you're interested in learning more about becoming a Fit For Work/EIM Partner, send us an email to info@evidenceinmotion.com. We will add you to our list of prospective partners and pass along additional information as it becomes available.

To Tom, Keith, and rest of the outstanding members of the Fit for Work team, the EIM community looks forward to partnering with you to elevate health care in the U.S.

The EIM/FFW Team