Occupational health software is a required component of any company’s system. The 21st Century Cures Act was passed by Congress in 2016 and required that all healthcare providers move from paper records to electronic health records (EHR). Because occupational health provides healthcare services to employees, it falls under this mandate. However, providers in occupational health are frequently busy responding to emergencies, new hires, and safety planning, so they require software that is easy to use, accessible to outside providers and company management, and tracks metrics essential to the job functions they oversee.
If you are charged with choosing a new software system for your occupational health team, consider these requirements and factors to find the best solution for your business.
Why Does Occupational Health Need Software?
Software for an occupational health department should do more than keep your company compliant with legal requirements. With the variety of options and technological advances to make record keeping and patient tracking easier, the software has the potential to completely revolutionize how you monitor wellness, plan budgets, and support the organization’s goals and vision.
The software you choose should provide all of these benefits to your immediate team, the whole business organization, and the patients you see every day.
- Streamline workflow so information only needs to be collected once
- Centralize data so it is simple to track and report
- Reduce accidents by keeping track of inspections, incidents, and risk factors
- Improve reporting by standardizing reports and frequency
- Cost savings because regulations are always followed and accidents are avoided
- Retain top talent adapted to working within EHRs to manage their medical workflows
- Always be prepared for audits since they can come with little to no warning
What Functions Are Most Useful in Occupational Health Software?
When investing in a software program for occupational health use, you’ll want to adopt technology that is flexible enough to fit your business’s unique needs yet robust enough to provide all the regulatory support you need. It should also have the ability to grow with your company and the rapid advance of technology innovation. The software needs of a small construction business will be quite different than those of a large medical complex. Consider how the system will keep your company in compliance with federal and state regulations and support employees’ physical, mental, and social well-being.
The best occupational health EHRs support a wide variety of industries by giving occupational health teams access to essential functions and additional reporting analytics that modern technology can provide. These functions are frequently used and, therefore, essential to occupational health software systems:
- Case management and documentation management
- Testing results (e.g., drug screening, vision screenings, hearing screenings)
- OSHA logs and forms
- Reporting for illness and injuries
- Electronic prescribing
- Workers’ compensation forms and tracking
- Scheduling
- Employee portal for access to medical records
- Insurance forms and billing
- Dictation and transcription services
- Communicable disease exposure tracking (e.g. COVID-19)
Specialty Features for Industry-Specific Software
Above are basic features that all industries will need in their occupational health software. However, consider all the risk factors your employees face and the tracking metrics necessary to your specific sector when evaluating a new software system. OSHA has suggestions for many industries that require a robust occupational health department. Some of the factors and features you may want to consider include:
- Chemical exposure for agriculture, oil and gas, and manufacturing industries
- Sun exposure for agriculture, construction, and landscaping businesses
- Fall prevention for construction, maritime, and telecommunications
- Workplace violence in retail and late-night establishments
- Electrocution in power generation companies
- Pathogens in a medical setting
- Accidents in aerospace and transportation
Other industries will have specific requirements for training, safety precautions, injury reporting, and recovery monitoring. For example, if your company has safety equipment like respirators, climbing gear, or even vehicles, you’ll need to track how often they are serviced and replaced. Office settings will more often need to track ergonomic complaints and repetitive motion injuries. All companies will need to keep their first aid and AED equipment prepared. Before determining which software to purchase, decide what will be most important for your occupational health team to track and easily access so the company always complies with federal regulations.
What to Look for When Evaluating Software
Your software should support the goals of your business. With so many options on the market, comparing small features can be an endless loop of charts and graphs. Instead, think about the features that best serve your occupational health nurses and doctors, your management team, and the employees who rely on occupational health for their safety and well-being.
Some of the features that make software more efficient and effective are:
- Self-serve portal for employees
- Messaging or phone call routing automation
- Billing claim automation
- Generated reports like average length of treatment, wait time, and patient satisfaction
- Risk identification and management
- Emergency response planning focusing on the most common injuries in the industry
- A mobile app for use by those who often change site or location
- Manage industry-specific regulations and training requirements as set forth by OSHA or other regulatory bodies
Occupational Health Software for Internal Communications
In addition to all of the other vital functions it performs, occupational health software can close the gap on disparate teams within the organization. One central repository of medical records, safety protocol, training and certification records, and incident reports gives supervisors and management a view into the business’s workings. With comprehensive information and detailed data, leadership can make informed decisions about necessary training, where to invest in employee health and wellbeing, and what factors pose the most pressing danger to workers.
Occupational health departments can communicate about case management, regardless of which healthcare provider sees a patient. A single system will communicate expectations with the patient and job requirements, return to work dates, and required accommodations to supervisors.
Records and evaluations can be accessed at any time to fulfill OSHA regulators’ requirements or answer questions about a particular employee, function, or piece of equipment.
Customized Reporting Options
Occupational health software should offer robust reporting options that fit the needs of any company. The ability to customize reports for your specific business needs is will improve efficiency and create more accurate assessments of your safety status and employee well-being.
Reports in an occupational health software system should alert users to trends, deficiencies, and strengths. Customized reports allow users to enter safety goals and track all metrics related to them. Dashboards make this information particularly easy to access for anyone reporting on these metrics. With machine learning and AI currently being incorporated in software across the board, trends can more easily be pinpointed, and alerts can be triggered for areas where adjustments need to be made. With this automation, intervention can be planned earlier and be more effective than waiting for a person to run and evaluate manual reports.
Will We See ROI from Our Occupational Health Software?
Because SaaS is a substantial investment, leadership will want to understand why the software is necessary and what benefit, both now and in the long term, it will have on the company’s workforce, productivity, and revenue.
First, occupational health software will organize all health-related documents in one system that healthcare providers and employees can access. Managers can easily track when an employee returns to work, and patients who need more extensive care can be referred within the EHR system. Having one comprehensive system will maximize the working hours of occupational health practitioners and enable them to be more efficient.
For monetary benefits, a good occupational health system will alert users to potential OSHA violations and prevent regulatory penalties that could go undetected under manual systems. Automating notifications for physical evaluations, training, and inspections can save a company thousands of dollars in fees and a negative reputation in the industry or community.
There may also be a financial incentive to invest in modern and robust occupational health software to consolidate records, meet the expectations of a workforce that is accustomed to technology, and streamline processes that previously required multiple touches and approvals. Check with your insurance company for discounts for well-managed occupational health software systems as well.
Making an Informed Decision About Software
Once you’ve considered all the functions you need in your occupational health software provider, consider other factors that will influence the decision.
- Additional Costs: Are there additional charges for functions like cloud storage or instant reporting?
- Installation: Where will this software be accessible, and do you need additional equipment to support networking?
- Subscriptions: Is the software a one-time purchase or an annual subscription?
- Scalability: Will this software still provide everything you need if your business grows?
- Data Security: How will you ensure the data is protected as required by law?
Do You Need to Move Data?
If you currently have occupational health software that is outdated or no longer meets your business’s needs, there will be a transition time while you adjust to the new processes. An internal project manager should be in charge of moving information from one system to another. Even if you’ve relied on physical paper records, all of this information must be transferred to the software.
Plan how long it will take for the software to be fully operational and for the occupational health staff to learn to operate it efficiently. Your IT department will be essential in this process as well. They will ensure access to everyone who needs it and monitor for security and accuracy. Try to schedule the transition at a slower time of year when you can dedicate time to testing and learning the new system.
A professional software company will guide you through the process and make it seamless. Cloud storage and backup data ensure that you do not risk losing essential information or having to key in patient information manually.
Whether your business sees serious injuries, needs to track exposure to disease, or simply wants to offer more thorough wellness programs to employees, occupational health software will support those efforts and bring added efficiencies. Visibility into compliance and risk will support your business decisions and create a healthier working environment for every employee.
