Blog Posts

Fighting employee burnout: How Allscripts is putting mental health first

Mental health has always been an important topic of conversation when discussing workplace culture. But as the pandemic continues to take its toll on workers in industries around the world, it’s come into the spotlight like never before. To ensure our associates can establish work–life routines that support their mental and emotional wellbeing, here are two key initiatives Allscripts has enacted to put mental health needs first.

Working from home

Prior to the pandemic, Allscripts was open to accommodating working from home, but a physical presence in the office was still encouraged as much as possible. At the beginning of the pandemic, we chose to put the health and safety of our team members first by instating a work-from-home policy applicable to all offices across the globe. As we know, the pandemic is ever-changing and circumstances change almost weekly, if not daily. In response, we have kept up with these changes by reevaluating this policy on a regular basis. At the time of this publication, Allscripts is retaining its work-from-home policy until June 30, 2022.

Throughout the pandemic, we have gathered feedback from our employees and have found that some prefer working from home because it makes it easier to manage their work–life balance while others favor the opportunity for social interactions in an office setting. With this in mind, we decided that a flexible approach is best. Therefore, when our COVID-19 work-from-home policy ends, Allscripts will instate a hybrid work model. With this model, associates will have flexibility in deciding when to work from an office and when to work from home. This is the best way to accommodate the variety of needs across our diverse workforce.

Recharge Days

Of course, maintaining good mental health in the workplace isn’t just about finding the best way for employees to work. It’s also about encouraging employees to take some time away from work, to relax and reconnect with loved ones. In 2021, Allscripts announced its first wave of “Recharge Days” for all employees. On a Recharge Day, the company shuts down and everyone is given the day off. I believe taking a collective day off is an important concept for promoting mental health and wellbeing. How many people are guilty of checking their work emails on a day off because they don’t want to miss what’s going on or have a huge backlog of emails when they return? That doesn’t equate to a true day off. But when everyone is out of the office, team members can relax and focus on themselves instead of worrying about work. When they return, they are rested and ready to better serve our clients.

In 2021, the Recharge Days were met with gratitude and praise from our team members. “Thank you for the Recharge Day,” said one Clinical Business Analyst at Allscripts. “It was great to have a day without work, emails, messages and meetings. Better yet, no extraneous plans so I could rest and recharge.”

“I didn’t realize how much I needed a day off,” said another Allscripts associate. “Everyone else had the day off too, so I didn’t have the guilt and pressure of watching my inbox fill up while others were working like on a ‘regular’ day off.”

I’m proud to say that Allscripts continues to put employee mental health first by expanding the number of Recharge Days in 2022. In fact, we observed our first Recharge Day of the year yesterday, February 28.

Adopting a hybrid work model and Recharge Days are just a few of the steps Allscripts is taking to better accommodate the needs of our dynamic workforce. And it’s just the beginning. We’ll continue listening to employee feedback and searching for ways to better serve our associates’ overall health and wellness. If you’re interested in joining the Allscripts team, you can view our available opportunities here.