At a glance
Occupational data for health (ODH) is a framework that supports collection of standardized work information in electronic health records (EHRs). It is informatics for structured, interoperable data collection in health information technology systems that support patient care, population health, and public health.
ODH concepts
Two important ODH concepts are occupation and industry:
Occupation - the type of work a person performs, such as a veterinarian or auto mechanic.
Industry - the type of business or organization where a person works or volunteers
Together these concepts can represent a person's work and can be used to understand potential workplace conditions and occupational hazards.
ODH can support quality care!
Occupation and industry in context
The ODH information model organizes data elements about work into topics. Healthcare organizations can choose to collect a subset of data elements found in each topic. For example:
Employment status is a data element that can indicate job security and access to work benefits.
Retirement date(s) provide a correlation between work and potential access to benefits and financial security.
The ODH Job and Usual (longest-held) Work topics include data elements that use ODH occupation and industry value sets.
A Job is a time-bound concept for a specific work position. It represents the type of work with an employer or organization. The Job topic includes:
- Voluntary work as an emergency or first responder.
- Voluntary work of 20 or more hours per week.
Usual work is not limited by the concept of job and can span multiple jobs over time. This information can show how health conditions relate to work duration, including conditions that take time to become clinically apparent. A person's current job occupation and job industry may differ from their usual occupation and industry.
There is also a Combat Zone Period topic. It supports conversations about potential long-term health consequences to military and civilian workers who have worked in a combat zone.
The Work of Household Members topic helps to identify health risks associated with take-home exposures. This includes exposures to hazardous materials inadvertently brought home from work, or prenatal exposures that affect the child.
ODH vocabulary
ODH vocabulary terms are based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) index terms and O*NET-SOC lay titles with their respective categories. These title-plus-category terms have been assigned codes by NIOSH for clinical care, population health, and public health uses.
ODH value sets are available in the Public Health Information Network Vocabulary Access and Distribution System (PHIN VADS).
The occupation value set is used for the data elements:
- Job and Volunteer
- Job Occupation
- Usual Occupation
The industry value set is used for the data elements:
- Job and Volunteer
- Usual Industry
ODH Vocabulary can be found under the "Hot Topic" section on the PHIN VADS home page. Content includes:
-Downloadable files of all the ODH value sets containing plain language descriptions (except for occupation and industry.
-Spanish translations.
-Crosswalks from ODH industry and occupation values to CDC Census coding system values.
ODH information model
The ODH information model: The HL7® EHR System-Functional Model Release 2: Functional Profile; Work and Health, Release 1 – US Realm provides useful features for collecting, managing, maintaining, and using ODH.
- Includes standardized data elements
- Includes data elements for healthcare and public health
- Enhances information collected, exchanged, and used in EHRs.
- Is modular and customizable for diverse cases.
A Guide to the Collection of Occupational Data for Health: Tips for Health IT System Developers assists health IT system developers who are implementing ODH in an EHR. It includes considerations for usability, functionality, and concepts related to occupation and industry.
Interoperability profiles and implementation
NIOSH is working with Health Level Seven, International (HL7®) and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise International (IHE) to develop interoperability profiles and implementation guides that assist developers integrate ODH in their systems. These modular templates are based on the ODH topics. Templates for each ODH topic are available in the three HL7® interoperability content product lines and in the IHE Patient Care Coordination (PCC) Technical Framework. These templates include:
- HL7 CDA® R2 Implementation Guide: C-CDA R2.1
- Normative HL7® Messaging Standard Version 2.9
- HL7 FHIR® 4.0.1 Profile: Occupational Data for Health (ODH)
- IHE Patient Care Coordination (PCC) Technical Framework Supplement
Implementation Guides
HL7® implementation guides and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) profiles that have incorporated ODH templates include:
HL7 CDA® R2 Electronic Initial Case Report Release 2
HL7 FHIR® Electronic Case Reporting
IHE Patient Care Coordination Query for Existing Data for Mobile
IHE Patient Care Coordination International Patient Summary
IHE Patient Care Coordination CDA Occupational Data Options*
IHE Quality, Research and Public Health - Healthy Weight
HL7 FHIR® Vital Records Mortality and Morbidity Reporting
HL7 CDA® Vital Records Death Reporting
HL7® Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
* This adds ODH to three profiles that are in the PCC Technical Framework: Cross-Enterprise Sharing of Medical Summaries (XDS-MS), Exchange of Personal Health Record (XPHR), Emergency Department Referral (EDR).