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by Stephanie Boyle on Mar 13, 2025
The hospital environment demands fast-paced teams working seamlessly together to deliver exceptional patient care. But even the most dedicated of employees can’t avoid a sick day.
Sick calls are a part of the job. But in peak hours, call outs can often lead to voicemails, handwritten notes, or rerouting to other departments, delaying shift coverage and increasing administrative burden. Not only does this impact the efficiency of the workplace, it also impacts patient care and satisfaction.
A rising trend in hospital staff is presenteeism; the phenomenon where staff come to work despite experiencing illness, injury or another condition, making them less productive. Presenteeism has a prevalence of 49% for nurses and has shown to reduce productivity by 20%.
It may sound counterintuitive, but making sick calls easier is the key to unlocking efficiency and reducing absenteeism. Automation is what lets teams call out sick faster.
Easier Call Outs Improve Operations
Automated sick calls boost productivity and ensure that hospital employees have what they need to do their best work.
- Streamlined staffing: Automation eliminates manual tasks like voicemail reviews and schedule updates, freeing up time for key team members to focus on strategic work.
- Ensured payroll accuracy: Automated pay code and schedule updates minimize human error and payroll discrepancies.
- Controlled overtime costs: Faster absence management prevents last-minute staffing shortages and reduces unnecessary overtime expenses.
Faster Sick Calls Support Employees
Automating the call out process means that staff can take the time they need to recover while knowing their patients are also cared for.
- Standardized absence reporting: Automation eliminates the need to connect directly with a manager, and standardized reporting simplifies managing call outs.
- Transparent absence audit log: Maintain indefinite records for absence history and grievance resolution to ensure compliance and fairness.
- Inclusive and accessible call outs: All employees have access to the same call out platform that meets union requirements while maintaining similar processes that minimize change management issues.
Simpler Does Not Mean More
Automating the call out process does not mean that employees will call out more often. Instead, it provides managers with data to make intelligent staffing decisions and avoid last-minute staffing adjustments.
By streamlining absence management, employees can report call outs with less administrative burden. At the same time, healthcare organizations can maintain coverage without disrupting daily operations.
Having a transparent audit log (available to both employees & managers) of every call-off (ie sick) that has occurred increases accountability for employees, ensuring it doesn’t get abused.
In fact, organizations generally see a decrease in absenteeism or a decline in call-offs because streamlined processes make it easier for employees to report absences promptly, reducing uncertainty and last-minute calls. This clarity allows for better scheduling and coverage, which can result in fewer unexpected sick days.
Andgo Makes Sick Calls Easier
69% of nurses work during an illness and when this happens, errors are 30% more likely to occur.
Automation not only makes sick calls easier, but it supports staff in being able to take the time they need to recover without sacrificing the exceptional standard of care hospitals pride themselves on.
Andgo leverages automation with our Quick Dial solution. Quick Dial works 24/7, fielding sick calls during overnight hours, eliminating peak volume in the morning or in-between shifts.
By adding Andgo to your tech stack, you’ll automate absence reporting, eliminate bottlenecks and allow your business to process sick calls 10X faster for more efficient shift management.
