Cost-effective care management software: An Asset To Your Business
Whether you manage a small home, or have a large number of residence at your business, tracking and providing integrity within your organization can be a major challenge! This challenge can exponentially increase the more information you are accountable for. While change is not easy, it can be well worth it in the long run, to convert your company from a paper system to an electronic software system! While it may seem like a lot of effort, in the beginning, it will pay off when you start to see the advantage you will have when it comes to reporting, analytics, and demographics all available at the touch of a button! Think of how confident you will feel when either a concerned family or your State surveyors, for that matter, walk in and want information quickly. This not only shows that you have control over your facility, but it also shows that you care about your business overall.
Changing record keeping systems may seem overwhelming initially, but the benefits really are great. So what kind of benefits does a software designed for assisted living offer? Honestly, there are many benefits you can get from going electronic but let’s just zero in on some of the most important benefits for now. Such as, your staff will become more accountable for their record keeping. Your records will improve because there will be fewer spelling errors and will become neater and easier to read. Over time, your staff will prefer entering information into a program instead of documenting on paper. Nurses have reported they save on average a half an hour a week when using a software system to manage resident care plans and scheduled tasks. And an electronic eMar system keeps resident medication orders accurate and less chance of medications errors happening.
Let’s now think about how much a paper system really costs. Do you know how much are you spending on your paper system?
The cost of paper, ink and printers?
Cost of storage space and storage boxes – both current records and archived records. Cost & time to create the paper charting?
The cost of staff time spent looking for records?
Cost to keep papers organized & filed for YEARS (Access to papers is not easy)?
Cost of missing or lost records - fines for not having the proper documentation?
Staff time spent to create care plans and schedules (1 or more full-time people hired to only do paperwork)?
Inaccurate medication reports?
Missed assignments (i.e. monthly, weekly, etc. and there is not an easy way to backcheck)?
The cost of maintaining the spreadsheets?
You may be asking yourself, can an electronic system save me money?
Yes, it can when you choose the right system. When choosing a vendor look for one that will help your staff implement a system by offering data entry of resident information. This is a huge service, as with any system, inputting information that needs to be tracked can be time-consuming. It’s not that it is difficult to do, it’s just that there is so much information that needs to be tracked. Look for a system that the modules are integrated. This will eliminate the need to double entry of data. A system that schedules resident services and provides staff with charting screens will ensure that each day the staff will be reminded of what needs to be done. The ease of a good charting system will save staff time that can be spent instead on caring for your residents. Better use of staff time and more accurate records is a reward of having a right system for manage your resident care.
You will find the real question is can you afford the high cost of a paper system?
See how using an electronic care management software can help your reach your bottom line — learn about eResidentCare.
