104 - Drivers in Recovery Durations and Popular Topics in Occupational Health

Session Description: MDGuidelines™ is a platform that provides recovery guidance for occupational injuries and illnesses used by clinicians, case managers, utilization reviewers, and others who support workers’ compensation and disability care. This presentation will explore changes over time in (1) the most viewed health topics, (2) the most utilized sections of the ACOEM Clinical Practice Guidelines, and (3) the recovery durations over a ten-year period. To identify changes, this project will use MDGuideline™ website metrics, published research, claims datasets. Additionally, we will explore the drivers of these trends with three groups offering diverse perspectives: epidemiologists, a medical advisory board, and the Microsoft Copilot Researcher and Analyst artificial intelligence. Each entity will review the data analytics and provide their opinion as to why durations are becoming shorter, longer, or remaining the same. These results will help occupational health professionals identify and understand shifts in guideline usage and return-to-activity recommendations over time, which can help anticipate changing needs and workplace health trends.

Educational Gaps: This will help clinicians learn about which topics are popular across all of occupational health, direct their time to areas of guidelines that may be helpful in their practice, and understand different perspectives for drivers of OEM outcomes.

Is this session being sponsored by an ACOEM Section or Component?: No

Has this session previously been presented?: No

The AOHC 2026 theme is Healthy workers. Healthy world: This presentation matches the 2026 theme well by exploring general trends in occupational medicine and showcasing different perspectives for the future of OEM. This presentation will use historical data to describe popular topics in OEM and what drives trends in OEM. We aim to provide valuable insights into the evolving landscape of occupational health. Our diverse panel, including epidemiologists, a medical advisory board, and the Microsoft Copilot Researcher and Analyst AI, will offer perspectives on why these trends are occurring. This comprehensive approach will help occupational health professionals understand shifts in guideline usage and return-to-activity recommendations, ultimately promoting healthier workplaces. By equipping stakeholders with the knowledge to anticipate changing needs and workplace health trends, our session supports the spirit of the AOHC 2026 theme. We believe that informed decision-making and proactive measures are key to fostering healthy workers and, consequently, a healthier world.