5 Ways Care Management Software Can Boost Efficiency in Aged Care

Asha Neil

Written on 9 January, 2023
Improving efficiency will empower you to provide better care, enhance the caregiver experience and bolster your financial resilience. Fortunately, care management software makes efficiency easy.

Software designed specifically for US-based home care agencies has an important role to place in digitizing your business, meeting patients’ needs and streamlining operations. Let’s break down the value it can add to your aged care organization.

How Care Management Software Can Boost Efficiency for Your Home Care Agency

More hours in the day - what business owner hasn't wished for that? 

We’ve got good news for you. Time-savings are one of the biggest benefits of home care management software. In fact, home care providers find they can save hours of time on their admin tasks with the right software.

Here are some of the main ways care management software will reduce your workload and free up extra time.

1. Faster Client Onboarding

The quicker you get your patients signed up and scheduled, the better for everyone. Reducing wait times will significantly improve the patient experience and quality of life.

Software will allow you to create a replicable and semi-automated system for onboarding while also respecting each client’s unique needs. You’ll be able to set up templates for consent forms, patient care plans, risk assessments and more. 

You can add a new client to the system in just 10 minutes. And with just a few clicks of the button, you can allocate them an appropriate home health aide and get them added to the schedule.

2. Simplified Scheduling 

Scheduling for home care can be challenging. You need to consider caregiver and client availability, client-caregiver suitability, client location, travel time and more. That's where software comes into play.

Automated scheduling software will generate a schedule for you to approve in minutes. Your staff will be able to set their availability for shifts on their dedicated app, while your customers can also request their preferred caregivers via your platform.

You can also use the scheduler to set up repeat shifts, team shifts and split shifts. You'll be able to assign multiple patients to a specific staff member's shift. And since you can toggle between client, worker and group schedules, it's easy to check that the draft schedule meets your needs before you sign off on it.

The scheduler won’t just save your back office time. It will also help optimize shifts so that caregivers spend less time traveling and more time with clients. You can potentially allot more patients per shift with care management software, without stressing out your employees or negatively affecting care quality. In turn, this can lead to reduced travel expenses and higher per-client profit margins.

3. Streamlined Communications 

Time spent on emails and messaging apps can quickly add up, especially if you're manually confirming availability and visit times.

Care management software will automate most of your communication. You can use in-app and push SMS messages to contact staff, the client and, if relevant, their family. Caregivers will be able to access an up-to-date schedule through the app. This means there will be significantly less likelihood of miscommunication and shift no-shows.

Plus, you won't have to spend time crafting updates for patients and their loved ones. You can automatically share everything from billing details to progress notes and healthcare reports with them. They can also make requests via their own portal, which is much quicker than a phone call.

4. Secure Patient Records Management

Care documentation is essential for healthcare providers, who have to securely manage patients’ details and care plans. A poor documentation management system can slow down your staff, as well as representing a compliance headache.

Electronic medical records can allow for easy access to pertinent patient information, and in doing so, give your caregivers the tools they need to provide quality care. This is particularly important for home health, where your team will need to review and update records on the go.

On the other hand, on-the-go access to client data comes with pitfalls. HIPAA compliance is a major concern for home care agencies, who must limit access to patient data at all times.

Care management software can make documentation management a pain-free process. It will allow your staff to access all the client information they need in a HIPAA-compliant manner. Plus, voice-to-text features and document templates will make adding progress notes quick and simple.

5. Quicker Payments

Care management software can enable home health care providers to get paid sooner, while helping you account for all your expenses. It can also reduce the amount of time you need to spend on billing and accounting.

You’ll have a perfect digital record of services provided that can be used to auto-generate patients’ invoices. You can also add expenses to shift records to ensure accurate billing. Accounting integration will help you manage each client account and bill various insurers.

Plus, you'll have all the data you need to make informed business decisions, thanks to automatically generated financial reporting.

Better Efficiency, Better Patient Care, and Better Profit Margins

Increased efficiency allows home care agencies to focus on meeting patients' unique needs. It will support you as you manage everything from HIPAA compliance to billing, scheduling and your team of caregivers.

Everyone benefits from increased efficiency. Your staff will be less likely to experience burnout. Their increased engagement levels will lead to better care and patient outcomes. And you'll have more time and resources to allocate to more important things, such as staff training and growing your business.

Tools play a vital role in boosting efficiency. ShiftCare's home care software will enable you to efficiently onboard new patients, optimize schedules and securely share important documentation. It makes communication with staff, patients and their families easy.

What's more, you can set up ShiftCare in minutes. Discover how much time you could save with a ShiftCare free trial

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