Healthcare providers who take a strategic approach to care management software will benefit from a more enthusiastic adoption by team members and a better overall impact on core business metrics. Let's explore, step by step, how you can effectively integrate patient care management tools into your business.

Know What You Want From Your Care Management Tools

There are many compelling reasons for using care management software. It can help healthcare providers boost efficiency, especially in admin tasks, and improve clinical outcomes. It can also facilitate better patient care planning and care coordination by ensuring that care teams and managers have detailed and up-to-date patient information. 

However, before searching for a care management program, you should understand your goals and your organization’s needs. 

Some software, for example, will be best suited to established businesses with in-house accountants and a large monthly turnover. Others will be targeted at newer businesses. And some care management programs will offer various models at different price points so you can grow your business while using the same platform.

You can separate this into several parts. First, define your goals. For example, these could be to spend less time scheduling, create a scalable patient onboarding and management system, or improve internal communications so you can have better care coordination.

Next, think about how your business model and structure will affect your needs. You might decide that user-friendliness is essential because your care managers don’t have the time to learn a tricky tech platform. Alternatively, you could settle on a maximum price point.

Finally, think about the specific features you want. This might be HIPAA compliance, scheduling, medical billing, integrations with your preferred accounting software or a mobile app for caregivers. 

Choose Your Care Management Software Carefully

Now that you know what you’re looking for, you can begin the process of choosing care management software.

You might realize that it’s hard to find the perfect software that ticks off all your desired goals, needs and features. In this case, separate your requirements into different categories based on how important they are. Put them in columns labeled “essential,” “desired” and “nice to have.” 

Once you’ve found the software that best meets your needs, make sure to request a free trial before committing to a long contract. Ask other team members to also try it out and give you their honest feedback. 

If you or your staff struggle to do something with the software, reach out to the publisher for their advice. Only when you and your team are satisfied should you commit to a contract.

Understand Your Tool's Features

Once you’ve selected a care management software, make sure you fully understand its features. Healthcare providers are notoriously busy providing patient care, but it’s worth investing time in this. You might be able to set your software up in 10 minutes, but digging a little deeper could allow you to discover valuable functions. 

You may not have thought to look for features such as a per-patient and per-caregiver view of the weekly schedule, for example. However, once you start using them, they could dramatically improve how you build your schedules. 

Get Your Team on Board

Your healthcare professionals already have plenty to do, from care planning to delivering medical services and creating progress notes. As such, they may resist spending time learning new systems, such as care management software.

Make sure to demonstrate how your care management software will support your care teams, rather than add to their to-do list. Explain how it should help them save time and provide patient centered care. Point out all the features that improve the employee experience, from greater control over their schedules to better communication.

When your staff members understand that the tool will help them with care coordination and delivering healthcare services, they’ll be more enthusiastic about using it. In turn, this will lead to the correct implementation of the new systems.

Provide Training

Care management software is often intuitive. Such programs are designed to be used by caregivers with varying degrees of tech-savviness. 

However, by offering your care teams training on the software, you’ll ensure that everyone feels confident using it. In turn, this will lead to better patient care, health outcomes and employee satisfaction.

This training doesn’t have to be time-consuming or costly. You could record a video or simply point your caregivers in the direction of the software publisher’s webinars and help center. Don’t be afraid to also set up SOP documentation for in-platform templates so that your caregivers always have a resource to turn to.

Care Management Software That's Easy to Integrate Into Your Business Operations

Healthcare providers like you want to focus on delivering patient centered care. Software should support you by making your team’s work easier than ever — not harder.

The right software will help you focus on your business goals, whether that’s improving care coordination between team members, maximizing time spent with patients or providing a high-quality but cost-effective service. It should also be easy to install, with your caregivers reporting that it helps them do their work better. And, of course, it must help you adhere to local regulations.

ShiftCare’s HIPAA-compliant care management software can be set up in 10 minutes. It has comprehensive scheduling, time-tracking and document management features, plus it integrates with major accounting and payroll software. And with a separate web app for your back-office team and a mobile app for your caregivers, it will ensure that every team member has the support they need.

Discover how much simpler running your business can be with care management software. Try ShiftCare for free.