Are you ready to digitise your care records?
If you’re looking for a digital care system that displays digital social care records, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed. There are many out there with varying features and levels of service, so how do you choose the right digital care system for your organisation?
Firstly, it’s a good idea to speak to several other care providers who have already made the digital transition. They will be able to give you some advice on which digital care system to use.
You are buying a digital care system to meet the target of having digital social care records by 2024, but you also need to ask yourself, why else would you need a digital care system?
Are you looking for a system that integrates with eMAR to manage and monitor residents' medication effectively?
Do you need a system that helps to improve your CQC ratings?
Perhaps you're looking for a system to help prevent dehydration and monitor nutrition amongst your residents etc.
Once you have the answers to your ‘Why’ for wanting a digital care system, you can then start searching for the right system for your organisation.
People need to go into the process with their eyes open and talk to people who have made that digital transition already. That's the most important thing they can do.
Jonathan Papworth
Founder of Person Centred Software
Each care home is at varying different levels of digital maturity, which means there will be many challenges ahead to achieving integrated care with digital. Health and adult social care providers who already use a digital care system must reach a minimum level of digital maturity, and these providers should be connected to a shared care record (digital social care record).
Where do you stand in your digital transformation journey? How digitally mature is your care home? Have a look at the categories below; which one do you fall in?
A good digital care system should be able to fulfil the processes required to manage a care service effectively - improving the quality of care provided. Furthermore, a good digital care system should be capable of replacing your existing paper-based care records, allowing you to create digital social care records and digital care plans and document care-related activities.
At its basic level, interoperability is about getting systems to talk to one another. Interoperability in healthcare enables various healthcare information technology (HIT) to communicate and exchange information.
For example, GP Connect, an NHS Digital managed service, uses standards that enable interoperability between different clinical systems, enabling the secure sharing of patient records across primary care. Person Centred Software has a GP Connect integration, which allows care providers to review the GP records and medical notes of those being supported in real-time.
Below are a few examples of the type of information made available through GP Connect:
Person Centred Software launched its integration with GP Connect in February 2021, becoming the first care home software provider to electronically transfer hospital packages directly to hospitals and advanced care plans to the ambulance services via their digital care system.
It’s a good idea to look for a digital care system that can offer the opportunity to integrate health and care services across multiple settings.
Andrew Coles
Chief Product Officer at Person Centred Software
Another good example of interoperability is eMAR, an electronic medication administration and recording tool that care providers can use to record medication administration in their organisation.
Person Centred Software’s electronic medication management system (ATLAS eMAR) has been integrated to give care homes greater flexibility and the freedom to work with their preferred pharmacies.
ATLAS eMAR improves the safety, accountability, and efficiency of the medication process. Care homes using the digital care system will have complete visibility of the eMAR within their daily records and care plans. Combining the platforms ensures critical information will be available when needed and empowers care home staff to understand prescribing and issuing patterns and ultimately minimise errors.
The shared platform also strengthens the partnerships between care homes, GPs and pharmacies, allowing for better integration and collaboration.
Common concerns care providers have about their organisation using a digital care system is the risk of losing digital social care records – how secure is the data hosted by the care system?
A good digital care system will store real-time data in multiple data sets using geo-replication. Geo-replication is a type of data storage replication in which the same data is stored on servers in multiple distant physical locations, so in case of a large-scale outage or regional disaster, the system can recover the databases quickly.
Person Centred Software uses Microsoft Azure to store their data, where everything is geo-replicated, and everything is backed up instantly to other data sets.
With Person Centred Software’s customers storing billions of care notes, increasing to over 5 million care notes per day, Person Centred Software ensures to deliver a high standard of data security to ensure personal records and sensitive information are kept secure and protected on a robust platform – data security and information governance are taken very seriously, using a number of measures to keep everything secure.
Person Centred Software’s data storage is fully resilient – with no single point of failure.
Jonathan Papworth
Founder of Person Centred Software
With the right digital care management system, the information you input onto the system can transform the way you care for the people in your organisation.
You need to look for a digital care system that can analyse collected data, provide your organisation with reports, and flag up concerns and risks that will help you to make informed decisions for your residents.
Person Centred Software, through reporting tools, enables care providers to:
Few useful pointers before you get started:
Most suppliers will offer training sessions on how to use their digital care management system. Person Centred Software’s all-in-one digital care management system is easy to use and quick to set up.
A carefully designed, comprehensive course of 3 standard training sessions has been created; they can be delivered either by individual remote training sessions or group interactive webinars. These sessions, which are supported by complimentary webinars, will help to guide you through each part of the digital care management system.
Person Centred Software’s standard training sessions can also be delivered onsite at your location.
All you need is a designated training room that will safely accommodate all delegates and the trainer while allowing for social distancing.
Your trainer will telephone the home the day before to confirm the home is Covid-free. They will then take their lateral flow test on the morning of training and provide proof of a negative result on arrival if required. Should the trainer receive a positive test, you will be notified immediately and discuss alternative options.
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