Why icon-driven progress notes are more person-centred

Care that puts people first

Want to learn more about Person Centred Software’s icon-driven progress notes? You've come to the right place! In this article, we explain why icon-driven progress notes are more person-centred. We also discuss how they save care workers time and improve accuracy whilst increasing the number of progress notes recorded. 

Working in a person-centred way involves working in partnership with the individual to plan for their care and support. Person Centred Software’s Clinical Care System was developed to meet this requirement. The clinical care planning system reduces the time it takes to physically transcribe progress notes, enabling the care team to record information at the point of care whilst reducing the risk of errors.

So, what are icon-driven progress notes?

Person Centred Software's icon-driven progress notes feature was specially designed with care workers in mind. The icons are central to the Care Delivery App's design, allowing care staff to record progress notes quickly and accurately, leading to more progress notes recorded and more time with residents. 

Aged Care providers using the Clinical Care System evidence, on average, over 50 quality progress notes per resident per day, which is impossible on paper and many other systems.

For Example: If a resident has a shower, the carer can press the shower icon listed on the Care Delivery App; this pre-populates a progress note, allowing the carer to add more detail if they wish. The carer can then input what level of help was needed and whether the resident was happy or unhappy using the icons on the left.

Suppose the carer wanted to report something unusual, an accident, incident, or note it on the handover section (h/o); a dropdown will appear for the carer to either fill in manually or record the notes using the speech-to-text feature. With the speech-to-text feature, carers can accurately convert their voice to text without having to type on the handset. 

Our primary goal was to create a universally understandable icon set that is:

• Recognisable by a majority of users from all backgrounds, experiences and languages
  For example, if English is not the carers' first language, they can click on the icons which write the progress notes for them, meaning evidencing progress notes becomes much faster.
• Easy to learn and quick to use (encouraging users to use the icon set)
• Understandable and requires as little thought as possible when searching or using them
• Designed to give carers more time to spend with residents

Icon-driven progress notes are more person centred because they are designed to give carers more time. With pre-populated progress notes and an icon-driven interface, medical records and progress notes are kept up to date efficiently and accurately. As a result, care providers can perform better, allowing more time for carers to spend with residents and providing the best care environment for all. Furthermore, the risk of losing information is eliminated as data is recorded in one central portal, which can be viewed anytime by anyone with access.

Add and update resident progress notes in just a few clicks!

The benefits:

• Saves time writing progress notes at the point of care    
• Improves accuracy and the number of progress notes being recorded    
• Carers of any digital skill level can quickly and easily use the software  
• Can be used by everyone, even if English is not your first language, you have dyslexia, or haven't used a smartphone before 

See what our customers have to say about our icon-driven care notes: 

“The system is straightforward to use, and the icon-driven interface is excellent for our non-IT literate and dyslexic care workers as well as care workers from CALD backgrounds with limited English proficiency; multilingual capability is essential for us.”
- Ada Cheng, CEO of Australian Nursing Home Foundation

“From a cultural perspective, it’s much better to have icon-driven technology as it helps us to manage language barriers across our workforce. In addition, the quality of information that the care managers are getting is much better – the technology has simplified many processes, too.”
- Lyn Morgan, CEO and General Manager of Yass Valley

"The digital platform's framework, the software's usefulness, the care plan integration, the easy-to-understand icons and the fact that it's operated from a mobile device, so staff don't have to queue for a computer… all these things are fundamentally and irretrievably different."
- Deborah Booth, CEO of St Andrews Village

“We have a diverse team working here, all from different backgrounds; because the care app is icon-driven, it can be used by everyone. So even if English is not their first language, our carers can click on the icons, and it writes the care notes for them, evidencing care notes is now much faster!’’  
- Bien Stirling, Director of Nursing and Facility Manager of Nanyima Care