[MCOH-EH] Accommodations for Physicians under ADA

[Daniel Samo]

I would consider than a physician’s work is a  safety sensitive job. And, safety sensitive trumps ADA. The decision of whether to accommodate is a business decision, not a medical decision. As Melanie pointed out we as occupational physicians can offer the types of restrictions that would be needed, which would indicate the types of accommodations that would need to be implemented. This would be a way that we can advocate for this patient. Whether the organization chooses to implement those accommodations is totally up to them.

Remember Samo’s second rule of dealing with bureaucracies:

NMJ

Not my job .

Dan Samo

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 26, 2019, at 3:25 PM, Swift, Melanie D., M.D. via MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh at mylist.net> wrote:
> 
> Hi Stephen!
>  
> Sounds like the accommodation needed is help with physical tasks to allow them to practice without fatigue. Sometimes it’s more successful if the restriction is written with specific restrictions on what the physician can do functionally (e.g. walking excursion distance/duration, standing how long at time/what percent of the day, materials handling/lifting limits, etc) and then the employer is responsible for figuring out how to provide that support. The employer may ultimately decide they want to accommodate that by not scheduling the physician on weekends, or it might be that they assign additional support staff on the weekend when that physician is working.
>  
> I don’t know if you’re on the treating provider “giving” or employer “receiving” end of this accommodation request, but generally a brief and HIPAA-compliant conversation with the physician-employee, employer’s representative, and the treating provider can help to clarify. The employee and their provider give the “why” - but the employer gets to determine the “how”. All part of that iterative process.
>  
> Good luck to you, and this physician. Hope it works out.
>  
> Melanie
>  
> Melanie Swift, MD, MPH
> Medical Director, Mayo Clinic Physician Health Center
> Senior Associate Consultant
> Assistant Professor of Medicine
> Division of Preventive, Occupational, and Aerospace Medicine
> Phone 507.284.2560
> _______________________________
> Mayo Clinic
> 200 First Street SW
> Rochester, MN 55905
> www.mayoclinic.org
>  
>  
> From: MCOH-EH [mailto:mcoh-eh-bounces at mylist.net] On Behalf Of Wintermeyer, Stephen F.
> Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2019 1:23 PM
> To: 'MCOH/EH'
> Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [MCOH-EH] Accommodations for Physicians under ADA
>  
> My apologies for the delayed response.
>  
> The individual in question has multiple sclerosis.  The individual gets tired easily.  There are fewer support staff available on weekends, so the individual has to do more physical work and gets tired more readily on the weekends.
>  
> Stephen Wintermeyer, MD, MPH
> Director
> Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
>  
> Campus Health
> Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
> Coleman Hall, Suite 100
> 1140 West Michigan Street
> Indianapolis, IN  46202
> 317-274-8214
>  
> <image001.jpg>
>  
>  
>  
> From: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh-bounces at mylist.net> On Behalf Of Daniel Samo via MCOH-EH
> Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2019 10:12 PM
> To: mcoh-eh at mylist.net
> Cc: dandad at aol.com
> Subject: Re: [MCOH-EH] Accommodations for Physicians under ADA
>  
> Steve
>  
> Racking my brain to think of what kind of disability would make you able to do your essential job tasks on a weekday, but not on a weekend day.
> Can you share some more specifics?  Might help with an answer to your conundrum
>  
> Dan Samo
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wintermeyer, Stephen F. <swinterm at iu.edu>
> To: MCOH/EH <mcoh-eh at mylist.net>
> Sent: Tue, May 14, 2019 12:43 pm
> Subject: [MCOH-EH] Accommodations for Physicians under ADA
> 
> To all,
>  
> Does anyone have experience with Reasonable Accommodations for disabled physicians?  Specifically, has anyone dealt with a situation of a physician who cannot take weekend or night call due to a disability?
>  
> Did the hospital/physician group come up with a reasonable accommodation?
> Did the reasonable accommodation include any of the following:
>                 Increased clinic time during the week
>                 Reduced salary (how was this determined)
>                 Assignment of additional, non-clinical duties that could be performed during the week
>  
> I appreciate your help.
>  
> Stephen Wintermeyer, MD, MPH
> Director
> Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
>  
> Campus Health
> Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
> Coleman Hall, Suite 100
> 1140 West Michigan Street
> Indianapolis, IN  46202
> 317-274-8214
>  
> <image001.jpg>
>  
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