Employee Assistance Computerization in the Twenty First Century

The growing emphasis of cost containment and the explosion of complex, corporate-style health care systems and services have significantly expanded markets in the health care arena. This coincides with the continuing efforts of corporations to downsize, tighten budgets while increasing the stress factor for all involved parties. Accountability has never been more important. Prior to the 1990’s Employee Assistance Program Managers had been lukewarm to the idea of having a computer on site with vital information previously residing in paper files. Many managers believed that housing information in a computer was somehow compromising the confidentiality of their clients as well as the legitimacy of the entire EA. Other arguments against computerizing was and still may be due in part to fear of change and a perceived lack of control. Over the last few years EA professionals have become more receptive to computerizing primarily due to articles that have appeared in various publications and as a result of presentations that reflect the need to replace time-inefficient and cost-ineffective manual systems.