New York -- February 27, 2024
If someone were to ask you what is a challenging part of running a home care agency, what would you say? Some might say maintaining scheduling that works for everyone is a major hurdle. Employees are human and things come up. Sometimes patients and aides don’t click or you have a sudden influx of new patients that all need help. Whatever the issue, scheduling can be a big headache for home care agency owners.
Now, there are a few options when it comes to scheduling management. One could of course use Microsoft Excel, and manually build spreadsheets to keep track of who is going where and when and why. Or one could use some other independent software that manages scheduling, and there are many options for that. These options might be convenient and perhaps easy to understand and implement. But there are a few pitfalls one should be aware of when selecting Excel or a stand alone software. For one thing, there is no integration within the other workflow management software, so all information has to be entered manually. That’s probably something a lot of business owners are used to but it is very tedious and time-consuming. Another thing is that there is more potential for errors, unhappy coworkers, mismanaged overtime, and other hassles that will end up costing the agency more time and more money.
Switching over to a fully integrated workflow management system will support a home care agency in eradicating the possibility of these errors and minimize employee and client dissatisfaction. Scheduling can be a cause for high employee turnover, losing clients, and going over on budget. But with a more automated and integer scheduling system, many of these complications can become much easier to tackle. Essentially systems can be put in place so that an agency can focus more on delivering expert care to their clients and providing fulfilling work to the staff.
A major benefit to having an integrated scheduling system is that the agency can have real time schedule monitoring alongside case discharge and schedule status changes. All this information is there with its regular case information which means that the agency can make informed decisions without having to go back and forth between platforms. This will save time, and make last minute schedule changes easier. As a small business owner, they can be sure that they have control over the responsibilities of their staff and that they maintain the high level of integrity that they require. And the agency can also make any changes in real time for any emergencies. As mentioned above, things change and flexibility might be required. With a fully integrated system and automated scheduling feature, they can account for those rare situations when they have to make a quick decision about personnel.
Security is another benefit for an integrated scheduling management system. Protecting a patient’s personal health information and confidential matters key paramount in this business, as the disclosure of such could result in an audit or even a civil suit–even if it is accidental. Because of the messaging technology within Carecenta, an agency owner can rest assured that whatever internal communication that happens will stay internal on a “need to know' basis. This also gives the agency staff a flexibility and the security to know that they can discuss their own issues openly on the platform and have it remain private. This way they can make sure that they are giving and receiving important information in real time, and everything is in one place. There is definitely a situation where information gets lost between phone calls, emails, texts, and other forms of communication.
By having an integrated scheduling system, an agency can also take a more customized approach to assigning aides to patients. An agency might want to send out a particular aide who has expertise or experience in a certain kind of work, or one who might get along with a patient better than others for whatever reason. By having this kind of information readily available, the agency owner can actually put some thought into scheduling rather than just slotting in whoever is available. This has the benefit of making sure that its staff is happy doing work in which they excel and that its clients are receiving the best care. It is much easier having this information at ita fingertips where they can optimize their business practices so that all goals are being met.
Scheduling is an integral part of a home care agency, with so many factors at play at once. An agency wants to keep their clients and staff satisfied, reduce costs and turnover, and ensure that the best care is being provided. With an integrated scheduling system like Carecenta, the agency can utilize the technology to keep their system running smoothly. There are many ways in which a poor scheduling system (or even just a manual one that seems to work fine) can be a detriment to a home care agency. But with the right technology and proper customizations, an agency can avoid those and realize its full potential.