A communitywide intervention to improve outcomes and reduce disability among injured workers in Washington State.

One pressing challenge facing the U.S. health care system is the development of effective policies and clinical management strategies to address deficiencies in health care quality.

Improving the quality of occupational health care in Washington State: new approaches to designing community-based health care systems.

The need for concerted action to improve quality was stressed in the recent Institute of Medicine report, Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health Care System for the 21st Century. This article describes an innovative community-based delivery system initiative designed to improve quality and health outcomes for occupational health conditions. Known as the Occupational Health Services (OHS) project, this Washington State initiative focuses on three targeted conditions: low back sprain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and fractures.