This month, Swedish Medical Center launches the Employer Medical Assistance program designed specifically for companies in heavy manufacturing, construction, marine services, fishing, transportation, firefighting, aviation and related industries. It is the first of its kind in the region.

Located on the Swedish/Ballard campus at 5300 Tallman Ave. N.W., the new service is a logical outgrowth of the nonprofit health system’s Maritime Medical Management practice, which started in the summer of 2009.

The Employer Medical Assistance program incorporates specialty care, diagnostics, emergency services and needed medical solutions for a broader range of injured or ill workers – all tied to the recently updated Swedish Business Health Link employee drug/alcohol testing service and a soon-to-be-added occupational health component.

“Through EMA, employers can get expedited access to the extensive Swedish provider network and have their key people back to work quicker and healthier than in the past,” Rayburn Lewis, executive director of Swedish/Ballard, said in a press release.

Among other services, the program provides emergency-room treatment with wait times much shorter than the national average, access to the largest and most comprehensive surgery program in the region, quick referrals to medical specialists and sub-specialists in cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, rehabilitation and many other fields.

Employer Medical Assistance patients can be treated at any of Swedish’s three medical centers or four emergency departments, as well as at more than 40 primary and specialty-care clinics located throughout the Puget Sound area.

Supporting the current referral system, the program works with the regional trauma centers where seriously injured patients are treated and maintain communications with the respective employers.

“An employee injured in a factory or on a factory trawler is usually seen first by an EMS provider,” Lewis said in the press release. “After that, the worker often needs rapid, uncomplicated access to specialists.”

Seattle-based Aasgard Summit Management Services, a comprehensive claims- and risk-management consulting company serving the marine and transportation industries, has utilized the service for their maritime claims since last year.

“The primary benefit of EMA is that we can streamline the effective medical care of an injured person," Aasgard Summit Management Services President Steve Kennebeck said in the press release. "The sooner we can get that employee treated, the better for all concerned.”

Swedish expects to treat 300 to 400 patients per year through the Employer Medical Assistance program. The program is based in Ballard because of its close proximity to maritime, ship repair and manufacturing plants and benefits from its seamless access to an extensive Swedish network located throughout the Seattle area.