5. Monitoring and assessing the TYÖOTE operating model

The purpose of the audit of the TYÖOTE operating model is to identify if the treatment process in a specific patient group has happened according to the guidelines of the model. A small sample of the patients who have undergone the operating model are examined to look at the following things:

• Has specialist health care or primary health care granted a short sick leave to the patient as planned?
• Has specialist health care or primary health care made a referral to occupational health care?
• Has occupational health care received a referral?
• How has the information flow been inside occupational health care?
• When has the patient received an estimate of their working ability from occupational health care?

The person conducting the audit is typically a TYÖOTE co-ordinator working in the hospital, but it can also be conducted by someone else, for example an employee in charge of quality assurance of the hospital. If necessary, a third-party auditor can also be used. The auditing process is implemented with the regional developing partners of FIOH.

The audit results are discussed in a meeting between the specialist health care and occupational health care. In case any anomalies in the process are found, the two entities work together to find solutions and improve the operating model in a way that suits the day-to-day work in both specialist health care and occupational health care. Repeat audits can be conducted to improve the functionality of the TYÖOTE operating model.

Workers being on sick leave is estimated to cause approximately 3.4 billion euros in productivity costs in Finland annually (Source: EK, Tekemättömän Työn Vuosikatsaus 2019). Productivity costs are productivity losses that are caused by work not being done due to illness and therefore  the value that would be added by the work not being gained by society. Based on national estimates, the cost of a single day of sick leave is 420 euros per working day for both the employer and society.