Have you ever heard someone say, “Well, there are lots of moving pieces”? That’s a typical refrain when they’re trying to describe a complex plan involving multiple groups and goals.
Anytime those “pieces” include human beings, the complexity ratchets up dramatically. That’s especially true when you are responsible for delivering in-home care. Your systems and processes need to communicate information accurately, promptly, and securely to ensure the safety and privacy of clients and caregivers.
The need for real-time employee communication and coordinated care adds an enormous level of complexity for the care delivery team and, really, your entire organization. You must be able to:
- Schedule and deploy caregiver staff efficiently
- Track the amount of time spent in transit and giving care
- Record and report the visit and activities that occur during each visit
- Improve health care outcomes
Better Employee Communication Doesn’t “Just Happen”
The proliferation and ubiquity of mobile computing devices should make these tasks easier, but just because everyone has a cell phone or tablet doesn’t mean efficient and secure communication happens automatically. Your team needs to have all the relevant information for both care and operations, and they need it in a format that’s clear and pertinent to them.
This is where a mobile health care and delivery management solution, like CellTrak HealthLink, can help. Real-time information dashboards bring your field staff and office operations closer together and help ensure that vital information flows quickly and accurately. With this type of solution, client information and schedules move automatically from your back office system to devices, and data collected during visits moves from the devices to your EHR and payroll systems so you can automate documentation of data flow to payroll systems and mileage reimbursement.
For example, a large hospice care provider in the United States uses CellTrak alerts and dashboards to monitor where field staff are and then redeploy them as needed improving productivity and client care.
Provide the Information That’s Needed, When and Where It’s Needed
Ideally, each team in your organization should have its own interactive dashboard that’s unique and customized to their needs. Service coordinators, for example, should have real-time insight into where your employees are during their workday and their progress on completing their assigned schedule. Which one is closest to a specific patient? Who has finished their assignments early and can pick up more patients? Who has a gap in their schedule? When you can make on-the-fly adjustments to get the right people in the right place at the right time, you can reduce costs and improve staff and patient satisfaction.
“Real time” should be the standard for mobile workforce management capabilities. If your organization can’t be alerted immediately when a situation needs to be addressed, then it’s no better than an antiquated paper-based system that’s sent out in the morning and checked at the end of the day.
In a work environment where there are lots of moving pieces, you can think of real-time communication as the oil that keeps your organization operating smoothly. Watch our on-demand webinar to learn how other agencies are solving this challenge with technology.
