As regular readers of our blogs will know the digitalisation of the social care sector is, whilst lagging behind other sectors, on the horizon. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has made encouraging innovation an explicit priority in its strategy, and the NHS Long Term Plan (LTP) published in 2019 contained the expectation that digitally-enabled care should go mainstream across the NHS, and that all providers need to advance to a core level of digitalisation by 2024.
These two developments alone mean that social care companies will be under increasing pressure to adopt digital systems, for the following reasons:
The first step is to undertake a full audit of the legacy system. How much of it is paper-based, and how much of it is already digitalised? The audit should include anything which affects the residents’ care, staff management, and general running of the home, such as:
For every item on the list above, ask yourself: Are these records paper-based or digital? Are they up to date? Is anything missing? How often are they reviewed?
This will inform you how much will need to be digitalised and what (if already digital) can be transferred to a new holistic system. Preparing for a fully digital system is also an ideal time to ‘clean the house’ and dispose of any unnecessary data. It will also make future Inspections much easier, as everything you require will be available at your fingertips.
When the audit of the legacy system is complete, it is time to identify the right care system for your home. The ideal product is one which is holistic, so that each module works seamlessly together without the need to replicate data input. A system which can work in this way will have the following benefits for users:
PredicAire is the first holistic care software, which offers all of these benefits. Using Artificial intelligence (Ai) technology, it provides market-leading diagnostic data to predict and prevent unnecessary health issues, leading to better outcomes for residents.
When you have selected and ordered your new care system, the next step is to inform your staff team and prepare them, the residents, and their loved ones, for the change. Any alteration to the ‘normal’ way of doing things is naturally met with apprehension, but by explaining the obvious benefits of the new system to these groups it will be easy to obtain their support.
For staff, the benefits are not only related to their day-to-day roles, which will mean more time with the residents and less on paperwork; but also to their care careers, as their training records will be accurate and up to date. In addition, the payroll system should bring an end to wage queries on payday.
For residents the benefits will be to their wellbeing through more interactions with staff, as well as to their health. A holistic system powered by Ai will easily identify any health anomalies, allowing quicker interventions and preventing unnecessary outcomes. Effective medication management removes the risk of error, whilst nutritional monitoring ensures that residents stay in good health for as long as possible.
For families and friends, a holistic system allows greater and more meaningful interaction with the care home and their loved one. In addition to the ability to see which activities their friend or relative has been participating in during the day, they will also be able to gain up to date information on their health. In this way they have additional reassurance of their loved one’s wellbeing.
With your new holistic care management system in place, all stakeholders fully supportive and staff trained how to use it, it is time to push the button and become one of the first care homes to embrace the latest technology!
In addition to the undoubted competitive advantage which will be gained from being one of the first users of PredicAire, there are other benefits to becoming a fully-digital care home. CQC has already signalled its support for new technology, with its Executive Director of Strategy and Intelligence Dr Malte Gerhold saying that in order to manage and regulate it the organisation will need to work together with, amongst others, developers of technology and care providers. This gives early adopters of a system such as PredicAire the opportunity to contribute to discussions about the future direction of care and care regulation.
A cutting edge holistic system is also, of course, future-proof. By investing time and money in a new care system now, your care business will be prepared for the years ahead.
Click here to book your demonstration, and see for yourself why PredicAire is the go-to care management software of the future.
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