Computerized attendance surveillance to reduce absenteeism.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Occupational Health
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Employee absenteeism presents significant challenges in healthcare settings.
• Effective management of attendance is crucial for operational efficiency and patient care.
• Previous methods for tracking and addressing absenteeism may lack real-time data and consistent application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a computerized attendance surveillance program on employee absenteeism.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of data-driven counseling and disciplinary actions.
• To determine changes in absence occurrences, warnings, and work hours post-implementation.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a microcomputer program in a hospital pharmacy department to track employee absences.
• Weekly print-outs detailing absence occurrences, reasons, and total hours absent for each employee.
• Comparison of absenteeism data for pharmacists and technicians over a 90-day period before and after program implementation.

Main Results:

• The computerized program was associated with a decrease in the mean number of absence occurrences for both pharmacists and technicians.
• Fewer oral or written warnings were issued to employees in both groups after program implementation.
• An increase in the mean number of hours worked was observed post-implementation.

Conclusions:

• Computerized attendance surveillance effectively reduces employee absenteeism in a hospital pharmacy setting.
• Data-driven counseling and disciplinary actions, facilitated by technology, improve attendance rates.
• The program contributed to increased operational efficiency through higher work hours and reduced absences.