A changing landscape comes with its own set of unique problems, many of which we’re usually not prepared for, which is what we’re seeing happen with the home care industry.
With the demand for home care services rising, we’re starting to see quite clearly that the need for home care is not limited to or synonymous with elderly care. So, as the industry expands, the need for a reliable and secure space emerges as well. At the moment, this is one of the many challenges the industry is facing in India.
“We need patients to see that home health care service providers are credible and can offer a high standard of care” says Chiamala Aravamudhan, CEO of cSoft Technologies. “While part of that care includes how the medical team is trained, a significant component of that positioning is tied into how organised the service provider is. Well-organised companies can quickly scale up the services they provide and add value with technology-based solutions.”
While several home care service providers do exist, many of them still rely on paper-based processes and record-keeping, which tend to stall the efforts put in place for ensuring patient care. “We’ve seen this situation play out over and over with many of our clients,” says Chiamala. “When organizations rely on paper-based processes, a misplaced ledger or a corrupt Excel file can become synonymous with losing all relevant data almost instantaneously. It’s just not a scalable process.”
As we know, scalability and efficiency are essential for reaching the maximum number of people, especially in relatively untapped markets. The HealthScore team has worked with some of the best home health care providers in the country, and we’ve helped them transform their processes using digital solutions with our EMR
From the very beginning, our team has worked closely with clinicians, nurses, and hospital administrators to gain a strong understanding of workflows and processes. In fact, because we work closely with medical teams, we are able to design solutions that work exclusively for a particular care facility.
A home care service provider can benefit immensely by leveraging digital healthcare software. “We have enabled better record-keeping and easier communication between therapists and the care facility, amongst other solutions, and all of this has resulted in better patient care. Which really is the goal we’re all working towards,” says Chiamala.
If you’re in need of the right technology partner for your home care facility, here’s how the HealthScore can help:
- 1. Team Accountability
- A repeating issue with home care service providers has been a lack of team accountability due to an inability to track the therapists’ work-related movements.
- “Our clients were not able to deliver the promised care to their patients because there was no transparency with the care team making home visits,” says Chiamala. “So we had to devise a way for our client to keep a check on where their therapists were during work hours.”
- With the right software in place, administrators are now able to see:
- Whether a therapist has left for the patient’s home
- Whether the therapist is running late
- Whether the therapist has reached a patient’s home and the session is active
- How long the therapist spent at a patient’s home
- Our software can also be configured for post-consultation feedback from patients, so you can ensure the quality parameters are being met as well.
- These features help with monitoring a team’s performance and with keeping them accountable for every appointment with a patient.
- 2. Prevent No-Shows and Fraudulent Home-Care Scenarios
- Every once in a while, a difficult situation arises, that mandates stricter control over a team.
- “Unfortunately, our clients have witnessed scenarios where therapists have not always been reliable,” says Chiamala. “Sometimes, therapists have confirmed they’ve reached a client’s location when they haven’t actually left their own home.
- At other times, therapists have called and confirmed the appointments with their clients and haven’t shown up. What they did instead called the care facility to report a completed visit.”
- “These are serious concerns that can cause harm to a patient’s health and to a care provider’s market reputation. The trouble arises when care providers rely on manual methods for delivery of care, e.g. phone calls and paper-based appointment scheduling.
- “Our software eliminates the need for relying on manual processes and by extension, fraudulent scenarios where a patient suffers. As an organization, you can mandate EMR-based appointment scheduling, therapist check-ins, and check-outs, a tracking system to see a therapist’s location, report uploads, and gather patient feedback as well,” says Chiamala.
- 3. Avoid Over Communication with Clients
- Imagine a patient who is in genuine need of care and comfort – perhaps someone in great pain because of an injury or surgery. Now imagine this patient having to deal with continuous phone calls with a care provider in order to schedule their physiotherapy sessions, appointment confirmations, and medical prescriptions.
- Along with those phone calls, they receive additional phone calls when a therapist is running late or if they need directions to the patient’s home. Then come the calls for follow-ups, patient feedback, and more.
- “Unnecessary contact can create a fair amount of frustration for most people, and especially so with people who are unwell. Someone in need of comfort does not need to be overburdened with coordinating their care. If there’s no other genuine need to call a patient, then that can be easily avoided through app-based scheduling and reminders” says Chiamala.
- A smooth app-based experience for a patient also creates goodwill for the care facility and can also lead to repeat appointments.
- As care providers begin to adapt to the need for home care and scale their services, a simultaneous need for airtight processes and technology-enabled solutions are also emerging. India’s healthcare landscape poses unique challenges that may require customised solutions, and the right technology partner can help steer you in the right direction.
- When enabled and implemented thoughtfully and with precision, digital healthcare software can lead to better patient safety outcomes, better delivery of care, and a more efficient workforce.
- “The days of working with manual processes are long gone, especially for healthcare providers,” says Chiamala. “We must make ourselves step forward into the need of the hour.”
Are you ready to make your home care facility more efficient?
- You may also be interested in
