Fortunately, the right aged care software makes it possible to handle these and other administrative tasks faster and easier than ever before. At the same time, it can help improve the standard of care you and your staff provide. Here’s what you need to know about how aged care software supports your organisation.

Stay on Top of Each Client’s Needs

No matter how many clients and carers your company works with, aged care software will ensure that a detailed, up-to-date record is maintained for each client. In turn, this empowers your staff to make more informed decisions regarding future care plans.

Clients often interact with numerous carers and receive a wide range of services, from physiotherapy and mental health services to respite or home care. When carers can see the full picture of a client’s history, they can provide better care.

With ShiftCare, for example, you can update care plans, progress notes, and files within the app, as well as view a client’s goals. Carers can add new information to client records straight away using ShiftCare’s app or talk-to-text features while it’s still fresh in their mind, rather than waiting to fill out paperwork after their shift ends.

Forget passing on notes from one team member to another, or calling around to find the information you need. With ShiftCare, staff can simply check the app for all the information they need to deliver high-quality care.

Help Clients Get the Most Out of Their Funding

In 2021, The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety found that funding was one of the biggest challenges to providing quality aged care. But while aged care software can’t solve low budgets, it can help you make the most of them.

For example, aged care software can help you track spending, review forecasts, and ensure the optimum use of clients’ funds for specific services — rather than poring over clunky spreadsheets or manually working out a client’s budget. All you need to do is input the clients’ funds and services to date to understand their current funding status. 

Further, where clients have complex needs, you can view per-fund expenditure and forecasts, in addition to a funding overview. With this information, you’ll be able to plan ahead, adjust schedules as needed, and ensure clients get all the services they’re entitled to. 

Finally, billing and performance reports will do the number-crunching for you, leaving you to focus on the best ways to use those services.

Assign the Right Carers for Each Client

Planning rosters can be time-consuming, complex, and frustrating. With the right aged care software, however, you can create your schedules in minutes. What’s more, you can give clients and carers more say over their shifts, so they feel empowered and respected in their work. 

Intuitive aged care software allows you to schedule recurring shifts for individuals and groups alike, as well as roster and amend specific schedules. Scheduling multiple clients for each shift can also cut down on the confusion, as carers can instantly see what they have to do each day.

Of course, even the most well-planned schedule can go wrong when staff are unexpectedly unavailable. Yet with the right aged care tools, you’ll be better prepared to manage emergency shortages. When carers can register their availability in an app and log their planned leave, you’ll be able to see, at a glance, when you need to schedule cover and who’s available.

With ShiftCare, for instance, you can also view schedules for specific clients and carers. This makes it easier to take a client-centric perspective, personalise client care, and even adapt your scheduling processes based on feedback or changing needs. 

Keep Loved Ones Informed and Involved

Clients’ family and friends gain peace of mind when they’re kept up-to-date on care provisions. Using ShiftCare Connect, you can provide login details for as many people as your client wishes. Depending on each user’s settings, they’ll be able to see the clients’ care schedule, invoices, and progress notes.

This can make a real difference for family members. As one ShiftCare user says, “We do a lot of work with people who’ve got short-term memory issues and if you were to ask some of them at the end of the day what they did at the beginning of the day, they can’t remember. Progress notes and the flexibility of being able to upload photos provides comfort and a lovely talking point for families.”

Not only does this service reassure friends and family that their loved ones are well-cared for, it also enables better communication, smooths out the billing process, and creates a quick and easy way for families to request specific services.

Cut Down on Bureaucracy with Aged Care Software 

Running a care provider business requires wearing a lot of hats. You’re a carer, recruiter, HR representative, planner, accountant, and so much more. And although your core focus may be on providing clients with high-quality care, it’s easy for administrative and planning tasks to eat into your time.

The right aged care software can help you make better use of your time, empower your team with the information they need, and keep clients’ loved ones involved. With ShiftCare, for example, you can roster staff, issue invoices, view carers’ timesheets and expenses, and manage Home Care Packages funding from within a single, centralised system.

Try ShiftCare free for a week to see how this innovative aged care software helps you deliver a higher standard of care.