2007 ORAU Annual Report - Oak Ridge Associated Universities

Former DOE Worker
Medical Screening
Program Achieves
High Satisfaction Rating
from Participants
During the first two years of the ORAU-administered
National Supplemental Screening Program (NSSP), more
than 5,000 former U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
workers from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada have
enrolled for free medical screenings. Patient surveys
indicate almost 100% satisfaction with the program
among those who have completed the screenings.
“Patient satisfaction is extremely important for this
project, enough so that DOE made it a key performance
metric for us,” said Donna Cragle, director of ORAU’s
Occupational Exposure and Worker Health Programs.
“We are very proud that this program has a greater than
99% satisfaction rating to report.”
In 2005, ORAU and its partners—National Jewish Medical
and Research Center, Comprehensive Health Services,
Inc. (CHS), and Occupational HealthLink—won the bid
to administer the NSSP, which is an expansion of DOE’s
Former Worker Medical Screening Program. It includes
workers who may have been exposed to hazardous
substances at work but are unable to be served by other
site-specific health programs. While these workers are
now geographically dispersed throughout the nation,
a network of more than 10,000 CHS clinics allows the
NSSP to offer these individuals the medical attention and
screening they may need at a clinic near their home.
The ORAU Team designed and implemented a
nationwide program to
• determine the appropriate medical exams needed
based on work history.
• have clinics readily available to every former worker.
• use a state-of-the-art, paperless recording and
reporting system.
The process begins with a thorough interview to
determine exposure history. This establishes specific
medical screening exams including a physical exam;
blood, urine, and stool testing; and hearing exam; and
may include lung function, X-ray, and other specialized
exams designed to test for occupational diseases, such
as chronic respiratory disease, hearing loss, kidney or
liver disease, and some cancers. Where the potential
existed for exposure to beryllium, asbestos, or epoxy
resins, additional exams are carried out.
Image Information
More than 5,000 former DOE workers have enrolled in the
National Supplemental Screening Program, administered by
ORAU, entitling them to free medical screenings designed to
detect illnesses that may have been caused by occupational
exposures to hazardous substances.
NetGain Turns to ORISE for
Beryllium Expertise
ORAU is working with Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based NetGain,
a provider of occupational health services to DOE
subcontractor employees, to lend its expertise in the
area of beryllium lymphocyte proliferation testing. ORAU
will be responsible for processing blood samples at its
beryllium laboratory and will assist NetGain’s physicians
in interpreting results and counseling active Y-12 National
Security Complex subcontractor employees who test
positive for sensitivity to beryllium. The lab, which is one
of only five laboratories in the United States qualified to
perform beryllium lymphocyte proliferation testing, also
added Idaho National Laboratory to its growing list of
national laboratories to which it provides similar services.
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