The impact of technology on employees’ wellness

Technology has become prevalent in the workplace, from smartphones to cloud storage. Employees use technology to communicate with each other and with clients. In many cases, they are also able to take advantage of technology when engaging in their healthcare efforts, to communicate with their primary care provider, to track their fitness activities, and to monitor their healthcare progress. What impact does technology have on employee wellness?

Technology can definitely have a significant impact on employee wellness, in many ways. Employees who are able to use technology to record, track, and monitor their own health and fitness efforts tend to be more engaged and more focused on positive outcomes. Further, employers who use technology to encourage participation in wellness programs or on-site health clinics see improved results from their efforts.

An ADP Research Institute study found that “72 percent of employees surveyed felt positively about their organizations using technology to measure and impact employee well-being.” Those tools may include fitness bands that track activity, mobile apps that monitor health, and access to intranets or other internal communications that encourage and reward participation in wellness activities.

Employers who offer an on-site clinic may also see improved engagement and improved outcomes among their employees, particularly if those clinics use electronic health records (EHRs). An EHR system with a patient portal enables employees to automatically have access to visit summaries from each visit and can reference the physician’s instructions anytime.

When the on-site employer clinic uses a technology tool such as Elation’s Clinical First EHR, employees have access to their critical health information – allergies, problems, history, current medications, immunizations, legal and specialists – and are able to share it with specialty providers or their primary care provider who would find it helpful to facilitate care. Employees can easily view their clinical information on their smartphone.