You have a few different options when it comes to methods for tracking employee health, but they’re not all equal in terms of accuracy and efficiency.
One of the most error-prone methods? Spreadsheets. And for good reason. Using spreadsheets to track data related to employee health opens you up to a few serious issues, including these three major ones:
- Spreadsheets are more likely to contain errors
- Spreadsheets make it difficult to track trends and progress
- Spreadsheets are not easily accessible to large groups of people, especially real-time versions
All of these are pretty big problems when you’re trying to track employee health and maintain regulatory compliance across a large organization. Below, we’re taking a deeper dive into the issues around using spreadsheets for this crucial task – and why specialized tracking software is a much better way to go.
3 Disadvantages of Using Spreadsheets to Track Employee Health
Designated occupational health software has a lot of advantages over spreadsheets for tracking and storing employee health data.
There are certainly some reasons a smaller organization might choose to rely on a basic track and trace spreadsheet template (they’re free and require minimal training, for starters), but they’re inadequate for large data sets. This is particularly true for something like illness, injury, and immunization tracking, which requires data analytics and compliance monitoring in addition to simple data storage.
If you’re trying to decide what method is right for your own organization, consider these three drawbacks of using spreadsheets for tracking employee health, all of which can be resolved by relying on an employee health software system instead.
#1: Spreadsheets Are More Likely to Contain Errors
Spreadsheets are notoriously prone to errors. And while this is true even in the most basic of environments, it’s even more of an issue in a complex healthcare facility. Nearly 90% of spreadsheets contain errors, according to Forbes, with even the smallest of mistakes leading to widespread issues with the accuracy of your data tracking and analysis.
#2: Spreadsheets Make It Difficult to Track Trends and Progress
There’s no doubt that spreadsheets can hold a ton of data, but they fall short in terms of what you can do with that data. The larger the volume of data, the harder it is to pull out actionable insights. Likewise, without the sorts of innovative visualization tools you get with healthcare software systems, you might find that you’re unable to pull out the trends that really matter unless you have an expert who’s dedicated to the task.
#3: Spreadsheets Are Not Easily Accessible to Large Groups of People
Letting employees update their own health records is one of the easiest and fastest ways to get accurate health reporting. And that’s basically impossible with spreadsheets, which become more error-ridden the more people you have accessing them. Add to that the fact you never know what the most recent draft is and it’s easy to see why spreadsheets aren’t ideal for manual inputs among a group.
Make the Switch to Clinical Surveillance Software
If your healthcare facility can’t afford the errors, inefficiencies, and inherent difficulties of using spreadsheets to track employee health, then your best bet is to go with an option that eliminates these issues while also offering additional utility for your organization.
Employee health tracking software can make a world of difference in your ability to accurately track injuries, illness, and vaccine compliance. It can also take all of the guesswork out of meeting mandatory regulatory requirements.
Immuware health tracking software can help your facility achieve compliance 40% faster (or more), and makes pesky spreadsheets a thing of the past. Learn more about us, or contact us today for a free demo. We also encourage you to visit our news page to keep up to date on all things health and safety, and for even more advice on making inefficient employee health data tracking a thing of the past.
Sources:
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/dangers-of-using-spreadsheets-for-sales
https://www.thechemicalsafetyassociation.org/post/switch-spreadsheets-to-health-safety-software
https://www.forbes.com/sites/salesforce/2014/09/13/sorry-spreadsheet-errors/?sh=2b5ef95356ab