System and Method for Managing Absenteeism in an Employee Environment

• US 20080306762A1
• Filed: 06/08/2007
• Published: 12/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Terry L. James
• Original Assignee: Terry L. James
• Inventors: James, Terry L.
• Application Number:
  US11/760,437
• Publication Number:
  US 20080306762A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

A system for managing absenteeism includes an absence manager, employees, and healthcare individuals. Absence manager can capture health-related data associated with employee and reason for employee absence. Healthcare individuals can receive a report associated with the employee that is updated in real time as new data is captured. Healthcare individuals determine an intervention plan for the employee based on the health-related data, reason for absence, and any other relevant data. Healthcare individuals can exchange data with employee related to the intervention plan with the employee.

Claims

1. A method for managing absenteeism, the method comprising:

capturing health-related data from an employee reporting an absence during a communication session;

interacting with the employee at a remote location;

determining an intervention for the employee based on the health-related data; and

communicating the intervention to the employee.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a report associated with the employee, wherein the report is updated in real time with the captured health-related data.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a surveillance plan for the employee based on the health-related data; and

following up with the employee based on the surveillance plan.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying one or more relevant risk factors from the health-related data collected from the employee; and

analyzing the risk factors to determine a risk management intervention plan for the employee.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving additional health-related data from interacting with the employee and applying the additional health-related data to determine an intervention for the employee.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying appropriate individuals of the absence by the employee.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the appropriate individual is a selected one of a group of appropriate individuals, the group consisting of:

a) a healthcare individual;

b) a manager of the employee;

c) an individual from payroll department; and

d) an individual from benefits department.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the intervention is determined by a healthcare individual.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the health-related data is a selected one of a group of health-related data, the group consisting of:

a) reason for absence;

b) biometric data;

b) utilization data; and

c) health risk appraisal data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the interacting with the employee occurs during the communication session of employee reporting the absence.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the communicating the intervention to employee occurs during the communication session of employee reporting the absence.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the reason for absence is an acute event.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the capturing automatically converts audio data associated with the health-related data into electronic text data.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the report is customizable to display one or more chosen data fields in the report, the data fields consisting of:

a) employee identification number;

b) employee name;

c) risk factors;

d) health risk appraisal data;

e) biometric data;

f) utilization data;

g) start of absence;

h) return date;

i) days absent;

j) reason for absence;

k) risk level;

l) age;

m) gender; and

n) weight.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the report is received and displayed on a web portal.

16. A system for managing absenteeism, comprising:

an access terminal;

an absence manager operable to;

capture health-related data from an employee during a communication session; and

a healthcare individual operable to;

interact with the employee at a remote location;

determine an intervention for the employee based on the health-related data; and

communicate the intervention to the employee.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the access terminal is operable to receive a report associated with the employee, wherein the report is updated in real time with the captured health-related data.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the healthcare individual is further operable to:

determine a surveillance plan for the employee based on the health-related data; and

follow up with the employee based on the surveillance plan.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the healthcare individual is further operable to:

identify one or more relevant risk factors from the health-related data collected from the employee; and

analyze the risk factors to determine a risk management intervention plan for the employee.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the healthcare individual is further operable to receive additional health-related data from interacting with the employee and apply the additional health-related data to determine an intervention for the employee.

21. The system of claim 16, further comprising an absence manager operable to notify appropriate individuals of the absence by the employee.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the appropriate individual is a selected one of a group of appropriate individuals, the group consisting of:

a) a healthcare individual;

b) a manager of the employee;

c) an individual from payroll department; and

d) an individual from benefits department.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein the healthcare individual is a physician.

24. The system of claim 16, wherein the health-related data is a selected one of a group of health-related data, the group consisting of:

a) reason for absence;

b) biometric data;

c) utilization data; and

d) health risk appraisal data.

25. The system of claim 16, wherein the absence manager is further operable to transfer the communication session of the employee reporting the absence to the healthcare individual.

26. The system of claim 16, wherein the healthcare individual is further operable to communicate the intervention to the employee during the communication session.

27. The system of claim 16, wherein the reason for absence is an acute event.

28. The system of claim 16, wherein the absence manager is further operable to automatically convert audio data associated with the health-related data into electronic text data.

29. The system of claim 16, wherein the report is customizable to display one or more chosen data fields in the report, the data fields consisting of:

a) employee identification number;

b) employee name;

c) risk factors;

d) health risk appraisal data;

e) biometric data;

f) utilization data;

g) start of absence;

h) return date;

i) days absent;

j) reason for absence;

k) risk level;

l) age;

m) gender; and

n) weight.

30. The system of claim 16, wherein the report is received and displayed on a web portal.

31. A method for managing absenteeism, the method comprising:

interacting with an employee at a remote location to obtain health-related data during a communication session;

determining an intervention for the employee based on the health-related data; and

communicating the intervention to the employee during the communication session.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

determining a surveillance plan for the employee based on the health-related data; and

following up with the employee based on the surveillance plan.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

identifying one or more relevant risk factors from the health-related data collected from the employee; and

analyzing the risk factors to determine a risk management intervention plan for the employee.

34. A system for managing absenteeism, comprising:

means for capturing health-related data from an employee during a communication session;

means for interacting with the employee at a remote location;

means for determining an intervention for the employee based on the health-related data; and

means for communicating the intervention to the employee.