As businesses continue to make changes to keep employees and customers safe from COVID-19, new applications and technologies have been developed to help them accomplish this. These services can help with all manner of things related to COVID-19, whether it’s symptom tracking, contact tracing, quarantine recommendations and more.
Here are 10 tools and services that can help your company track, trace and evaluate employee health in the coronavirus era.
Appian
McLean, Virginia-based Appian, a large company with a platform that lets businesses build apps using little code, offers a tool called Appian Workforce Safety that helps companies “manage the complexities of returning workers on-site while maintaining the privacy and security of individuals’ health information.” Workforce Safety has workforce health screening, automated return authorization, contact tracing, isolation processing and an at-home COVID-19 testing partnership with Everlywell so employees can be tested before returning. All of the software tools run through a single hub with real-time insights.
Doc.ai
Palo Alto, California-based Doc.ai, an artificial intelligence company with an emphasis on improving healthcare, responded to the COVID-19 crisis by building a new return-to-work solution called Passport. This tool allows businesses to manage current health rules, real-time statuses of employees’ health, and workforce locations from a single dashboard. Employees download Passport apps for Android or iOS, and from there answer questions regularly to evaluate their health.
Evident
Atlanta-based Evident, which focuses on identity, business and insurance verification solutions, has also created a COVID-19-focused solution called Health Status. This tool is designed to help enterprises “safely and privately monitor employee health statuses to reduce COVID-19 exposure, mitigate risk and avoid liability.” Health Status offers dashboards and workflows that simplify the collection and analysis of employee health data. Once it is set up, employees use Evident mobile apps to report current health statuses. If an employee tests positive for COVID-19, Health Status can then assist with contract tracing tools and evaluating when it’s safe for them to return.
GoCanvas
Reston, Virginia-based GoCanvas, a maker of digital automation tools that speed up day-to-day operations, created a suite of tools to meet the moment called GoCanvas COVID-19 Screening. This tool includes basics such as symptom, exposure and temperature tracking for employees, as well as employee waivers, GPS location capture and more. All results are viewable by employers in a real-time dashboard. Notably, companies can create custom alerts such as high temperatures or specific symptoms to respond to issues immediately.
As workers come back, Safe Operate offers up action plans for managers, determines which teams can return and trains employees on new protocols.
mHealthCoach
Chicago-based mHealthCoach, a case management platform for human resources departments, created a new COVID-19 Employee Screening to mitigate workforce risk during the pandemic. This simple web-based platform prompts employees to answer self-screening questions daily for COVID-19 symptoms before coming in for work. If an employee does not meet guidelines for work, the app can then direct the employee to available test sites and outline incident procedures for the employer.
Net Health
Pittsburgh-based Net Health, which provides various solutions and tools for healthcare providers, has created a solution that builds on its existing Agility employee wellness software for healthcare organizations. Net Heath’s Employee Health for COVID-19 is unique in its targeting of hospital and health care workers who may be threatened by COVID-19 exposure daily. It can monitor employee health status through daily surveys, report locations where employees have been exposed, and track testing and quarantining requirements.
Pega
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Pega, a provider of cloud software that helps businesses with customer engagement and operations, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with the development of its Safe Operate return-to-work software. This tool first and foremost helps with tracking employee health with self-assessments that can, in turn, authorize workers to come back or support them if they are having health issues. As workers come back, Safe Operate offers up action plans for managers, determines which teams can return and trains employees on new protocols.
ProtectWell
This year, health insurance provider UnitedHealth and tech giant Microsoft launched an app called ProtectWell that focuses on screening employees for COVID-19 symptoms. The app features an AI chatbot that asks questions to employees regarding symptoms and potential exposures. If the app decides that the employee is at risk, the worker can be referred for testing. On the employer side, businesses view a hub with real-time insights on workforce health, including hot spots. Notably, UnitedHealth and Microsoft have made the app free through 2021.
ReturnSafe
Austin, Texas-based ReturnSafe was founded in 2020 with the explicit goal of protecting active workplaces from COVID-19. ReturnSafe offers one app that incorporates employee screening, testing management and contact tracing. Employees are encouraged daily to record symptoms. At the office, ReturnSafe’s technology can use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi data from employees to determine if they may have been exposed to someone who had the virus. An optional “distancing alarm” can go off on an employee’s phone if they get within 6 feet of another worker.
Verily
Verily, a life sciences subsidiary of Google-parent Alphabet, created its Healthy at Work service to help companies safely bring back workers. The app-based service incorporates COVID-19 symptom screening, testing, analytics and safety controls. Workers take daily health surveys to monitor their status. If an employee records symptoms or close contact with the virus, employers can use Healthy at Work to refer employees for testing through mobile test sites, at-home testing kits or community test sites. Healthy at Work also analyzes data to make recommendations about what workers should return to shared workspaces.
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