How Software Can Streamline Flu Clinic Administration

By: Morgan Yi, Contributor

It’s estimated that seasonal flu impacts approx. 1 billion people globally each year, contributing to between 290,000 and 650,000 deaths. When considering workplace settings specifically, the impacts aren’t much better.

In 2022, the CDC estimated that between 27 and 54 million Americans contracted the flu over the 2022-2023 season. Consequently, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation reports that flu-related absenteeism results in approximately 111 million lost workdays per year, costing the U.S. economy over $80 billion.

And, while all demographic groups are susceptible to the flu, individuals in some workplace cohorts are at higher risk of developing complications if they get sick, including those over 65 years of age, along with people with chronic medical conditions like heart disease and asthma.

So, when we consider what business leaders can do to ward off the worst effects that the flu can exert upon their organizations, health experts suggest that the best approach is to get ahead of the disease by ensuring employees have adequate access to vaccines before the flu season begins.

For those organizations looking for guidance on how to best navigate these challenges, they are encouraged to refer to the CDC’s Best Practices Checklist for workplace flu vaccination programs.

Beyond Vaccines

No company can avoid the flu altogether; a workplace vaccination clinic, optimized with occupational health software, can help organizations take proactive steps to protect their workforce. (photo courtesy Adobe Stock Images)

Beyond these best practices, organizations can realize considerable time and cost savings, while maximizing workforce participation, in flu clinicians by leveraging occupational health software platforms, specifically those with pre-built flu vaccination-management tools. These software solutions offer numerous benefits including:

Automation of clinical workflows: Through configurable business rules, organizations can automate specific notifications to remind employees of scheduled vaccination appointments, reducing the risk of no-shows, while removing the need for clinical staff to contact each employer (and/or their supervisor) directly about their flu shot appointment. And, once an employee receives their shot, their next year’s vaccination is automatically scheduled. Similarly, by automating reporting workflows, organizations never need to worry about missing regulatory reporting deadlines, and the associated compliance risks that can result.

Reducing charting efforts: Software helps reduce clinical charting efforts, eliminating administration and freeing up clinicians to deliver more vaccinations. With drop-down menus and pre-configured tables, software can simplify patient charting, while reducing manual data entry errors that can carry through to regulatory compliance reporting. By partially automating the uptake of clinical documentation needed to ensure that shots are administered safely, such solutions can facilitate higher clinic throughput, while reducing costs and improving workforce protection.

Optimizing vaccine inventory management: With software, organizations can easily digitize their inventory management of flu vaccines. That inventory can be easily linked to patient charting protocols, such that when a flu shot is administered, and a dose is recorded against a patient record, that dose is automatically deducted from the clinic’s overall vaccine inventory. By integrating the occupational health software to procurement systems, once the vaccine inventory falls below a set threshold, the system can automatically alert health clinic staff of an impending vaccine shortage and automatically place a vaccine order to restock the supply. In this respect, the clinic never needs to worry about stockouts that could compromise their ability to deliver immunizations to interested employees.

Enhancing decision-making through better data visibility:  The real value in adopting software for your vaccination program is the speed at which your collected data can be analyzed to provide the organization with meaningful insights to drive decision-making, identify problems and take immediate action. Technology-enabled flu immunization programs can help business leaders better visualize data to show how the organization is acting proactively to manage the risks and limit the chances of influenza disrupting business operations. Anything that reduces the time and effort to help collect and transform your data into a compelling story will be immensely helpful.

Improving employee engagement: Health software platforms are giving organizations more tools to make it easier for employees to request and receive annual flu vaccinations. Mobile apps are now offering self-scheduling capabilities that allow employees to book appointments at preferred times and locations, while also enabling employees to provide health history before their appointment, fast-tracking their flu shot, and getting them through the clinic and back to work faster.  By giving workers more control over these health-based decisions, we can create a more engaging, personalized and memorable patient experience that will encourage employees to come back for their shot next year.

Final Thoughts

The statistics of flu-related illnesses and the associated economic costs are revealing; employers play a significant role. (photo courtesy Adobe Stock Images)

If there’s anything certain about seasonal flu, it’s the fact that it’s coming around again real soon. The impact on individual health and business continuity cannot be underestimated; the statistics of flu-related illnesses and the associated economic costs are revealing, and employers play a significant role.

One powerful tool to combat the effects of the flu for both the individual and business is vaccination, and workplace flu clinics are a practical approach to improving vaccination rates. However, to succeed, organizations must overcome common challenges associated with administering flu clinics. Adopting occupational health software has proven to help.

While no company can avoid the flu altogether, with a workplace vaccination clinic optimized with occupational health software, organizations can take proactive steps to protect their workforce; improve overall wellness; and maintain business continuity in the face of the flu season.

[Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from a longer piece on protecting workers during flu season. For the original blog post from Cority, visit: https://www.cority.com/blog/flu-workplace-clinic/ ]

About the Author:

Morgan Yi is Cority’s Content Marketing Manager. In her role, she supports Cority’s digital marketing programs with a focus on creating new content to increase brand awareness, accelerate quality lead generation and positively impact digital marketing KPIs.