In house EAP is valuable to maintain a healthy employed  community. Internal policies to clarify privacy and other regulatory matter is important.

Workers' comp matters and employment fitness for duty decisions should be stated in advance to avoid legal pitfalls with employment laws, privacy and the appearance of insurance fraud. 

These matters are subtle and most EAP counselors do not have the certification or training to navigate these and can open the employee to risk if not clearly outlined in advance.

For example, Fitness for Duty (ffd) determinations. In California a occmed physician doing a for-cause ffd evaluation is performing a routine function in their scope of practice. 

The HR department needs a formal plan or policy (Not a lawyer so check the details) in advance to send someone for eval. I recall one lawyer telling me that it needs to be registered with the state (again, not a lawyer).

A psychologist doing a ffd in California needs a specific certification to make the determination. Ultimately the medical director might be asked to use that evaluation as input on a final decision.

So if EAP gets involved because of an ongoing prexisting relationship, a policy in advance would be advisable. It might be most useful to simply have a formal outside psych professional already on retainer synthesize the data and make a recommendation to the medical director.




On Jul 15, 2026 at 11:51 AM, Sonya Meyers <smeyers@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Dr. Thorne,

When I was at the University of Illinois,at Chicago, the EAP counselor was a dynamic part of occ med/employee health, helping struggling employees/residents as well as providing documentation for employees/residents who needed intervention.  

She helped run the list for internal employees who had a referral to her. 

The UIC College of Medicine campus has both union and non union employees and EAP seemed to work well for most people. 
She was neutral, professional, and provided community referrals. 

Thank you, 

Sonya Meyers, MD MPH FACOEM
Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 14, 2026, at 10:01 PM, Thorne, Craig via MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh@mylist.net> wrote:



Good afternoon, everyone,

 

Does anyone have an internal EAP program, or a hybrid model with a third-party vendor?

 

If so, what does your staffing model look like, including the number of dedicated staff per covered employees.

 

Thank you.     

_________________________________________________________

 

 

Craig D. Thorne, M.D., MPH, MBA, FACP, FACOEM

Medical Director | Occupational Health

25900 Science Park Drive, AC248 | Beachwood, OH 44122  

(216) 630-2078 (mobile) | THORNEC@ccf.org

 

Please do not feel obligated to respond outside of your normal work hours.

 

 


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The MCOH-EH List has always been moderated by members of the ACOEM Medical Center Occupational Health Section. It is currently moderated by Joe Fanucchi MD FACOEM.
List membership is free, but only subscribers may post to the list.
To post send messages to: mcoh-eh@mylist.net
To become a subscriber, or to change your subscription options (turn off email while you're on vacation, etc):   http://www.mcoh-eh.net
MediTrax / Occupational Health Systems, Inc. provides financial support to ensure the list remains a free resource for the occupational health community.
---------------------------------------
List archives (public): http://mylist.net/archives/mcoh-eh/
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Send administrative requests to: drjoe@meditrax.com
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When replying to a message, PLEASE delete all footers, and all messages to which you're NOT replying.