Success Story: From Excel to Efficiency – How Ortrac Changed VFU Administration
Background
As a VFU administrator at a nursing education program, Maria Lindström was responsible for coordinating student placements, communicating with supervisors and clinicians, and following up on assessments and attendance.
Previously, the work consisted of emails, phone calls, Excel lists, and paper forms sent back and forth between the university and the healthcare units.
“I constantly had five Excel files open, a jam-packed email flow, and a phone that never stopped ringing. Just updating a list could take half a day.”
– Maria Lindström, VFU administrator
Challenges with previous ways of working
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Manuell planering: Studentplaceringar gjordes i Excel och uppdaterades för hand.
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Otydlig kommunikation: Kliniker, handledare och studenter kontaktades via mejl – ofta i olika trådar.
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Pappersbaserad bedömning: Handledare fyllde i formulär för hand som sedan behövde scannas och registreras manuellt.
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Brist på överblick: Svårt att se i realtid vilka studenter som var placerade var, och om alla hade en handledare tilldelad.
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Tidskrävande rapportering: Sammanställning av statistik och kvalitetsdata inför terminsslut tog dagar – ibland veckor.
Lösningen – Ortrac som navet för hela VFU-processen
When the training introduced Ortrac, Maria's workflow fundamentally changed.
Through the platform, she was able to manage the entire VFU process digitally, from planning to assessment and follow-up.
Investments and planning
All VFU places were registered digitally and linked directly to the students.
Automatic notifications to supervisors and students dramatically reduced email traffic.
Calendar overview provided quick insight into which students were placed where, and when.
“What used to take days with Excel lists now takes minutes – the system keeps track for me.”
Assessment and feedback
Supervisors could fill out digital assessment forms directly in Ortrac, on a computer or mobile phone.
All assessments were automatically saved in the student's digital portfolio.
The students received faster feedback, and Maria did not have to manually record results.
“The paper forms are gone. Now I can follow in real time who has been assessed and who is missing.”
Quality monitoring and reports
With the analysis views in Ortrac, Maria could easily see statistics on placements, supervisors, and assessment results.
Reports for internal quality assurance and documentation for UKÄ could be generated automatically.
Deviations and deficiencies in supervisor resources could be identified early.
“Before the UKÄ review, I previously had to spend weeks compiling figures – now I get everything at the touch of a button.”
Results
After Ortrac was introduced, work with VFU has become both more efficient and more quality assured:
Before Ortrac
Manual planning in Excel
100+ emails per week
Paper-based assessment
Difficult to see status
Manual reporting to UKÄ
After Ortrac
Automatic placements in digital system
70–80% reduction in email flow
Digital assessment with real-time follow-up
Full transparency over all investments
Automatic reports and analyses
Conclusion
With Ortrac, Maria was able to:
Digitize the entire VFU management.
Free up time from administration to quality assurance.
Improve collaboration between universities and healthcare units.
Generate reports and analysis data for UKÄ and internal follow-up with one click.
Ortrac has made VFU administration modern, traceable and efficient – to the benefit of both students, supervisors and universities.