Current and future needs for occupational medicine physicians in nonindustrial settings: a survey of multispecialty group medical practices and health maintenance organizations.

The provision of occupational health services by multispecialty group medical practices and health maintenance organizations has received relatively little attention to date. To address this issue, a mail questionnaire survey of a random sample of these organizations around the country was conducted. Particular attention was focused on the current use of and future need for occupational medicine physicians and occupational health nurses in these settings. Results from the sample respondents indicate that these sites are playing a significant and increasing role in the provision of occupational health services with a projected approximate three-fold increase in the number of positions for occupational health professionals in these settings over the next decade. Assuming that these results are reflective of the situation nationwide, it is unlikely that the demand for these professionals will be met by current levels of graduate training.