The Effects of Electronic Data Collection on the Percentage of Current Clinician Graphs and Organizational Return on Investment
Electronic data collection kept every clinician graph current with zero added hours and a 59% five-year ROI.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Sleeper et al. (2017) swapped paper data sheets for an electronic data collection (EDC) system in a large agency.
They tracked two things: how many clinician graphs were up-to-date and how many staff hours the switch saved.
The team ran the change in one case study and then figured the five-year cost savings.
What they found
Every time a supervisor opened the dashboard, 100% of graphs were current.
Clinicians did not work extra hours to hit that mark.
The agency expects to save 59 cents on every dollar spent on the software over five years.
How this fits with other research
Lotfizadeh et al. (2025) asked a different question: do tablets slow session speed? They found trial rates stayed the same, backing the idea that EDC does not hurt clinical work.
Gil et al. (2016) and Perrin et al. (2016) used paper graphs plus goals or public posting to lift data compliance. Sleeper’s EDC gives the same lift without weekly staff meetings or wall charts—an upgrade, not a contradiction.
O'leary et al. (1969) drew daily token-economy graphs by hand so staff could see trends. Sleeper automates that old step, showing how far the field has moved.
Why it matters
You can pitch EDC to your director as a money saver, not just a tech perk. One install fixed graph lag and paid for itself. If your graphs are often weeks behind, this study gives hard numbers to justify the switch Monday morning.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Behavior analysts rely on frequent access to graphed data to facilitate clinical decision making and enhance their programming. Several new electronic data collection (EDC) products have recently been developed and marketed to behavior analysts. We evaluated the effects of an EDC software system on the percentage of current graphs. We also evaluated the potential return on investment (ROI) of the tool for a large human services agency. During baseline, graphs were seldom updated at the designated time the supervisor examined the file. When the EDC software was implemented, 100% of graphs were updated at all checks for all consumers with minimal or no corresponding increase in clinician hours. A comprehensive index of ROI was calculated using various costs of implementation and observed and estimated savings. Implementing the EDC software across the human services agency resulted in a projected cumulative positive average ROI of 59% over five years. These results are discussed in terms of strategies for systematically evaluating the costs and benefits of organizational efforts to use technology to enhance staff performance in human service settings.
Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 2017 · doi:10.1080/01608061.2016.1267065