Choosing Your Point of Care Solution

Finding the right technology solution for your senior living community can be tedious and time-consuming. You know what you need to improve resident outcomes and make the work of your caregivers more productive, but you’re not sure where to begin.

Here are some guidelines to help you choose the best solution for your community:

1. Caregivers Must Be Able to Record Services at the Point of Care (POC)
Choose an integrated solution that enables your care teams to immediately document care and services while they are with residents, rather than relying on their memory or taking handwritten notes. Your caregivers represent a broad range of work experience and educational backgrounds, so it’s important to use a technology solution that is easy to learn and use for all levels of staffing. The system should remove frustrations and allow staff to be more productive.

2. Caregivers Must Be Able to See What’s Scheduled
Your care teams need to be able to track planned services, modifications to current services, and document any new services that the resident may require. By documenting the supplemental services they have provided, care staff can identify changes in health conditions, and you can ensure that residents are billed for those unscheduled services.

3. Care Teams Must Be Able to Document Details
When choosing your technology solution, it’s important to make sure staff are able to record care in real time, capturing both planned and unplanned services. Your care team should also be able to provide detailed and accurate documentation, which will enable them to identify changes in resident needs quickly and proactively. For example, if a resident needs assistance with a meal, the caregiver can document whether the meal was consumed and what percentage of it was eaten.

4. Your Solution Must Drive Compliance with Regulations and Policies Your POC solution should allow you to quickly view reports on all care and services delivered. With complete documentation in one place, your health and wellness leaders are better able to monitor the efficiency and compliance of your caregivers. A cohesive solution ensures that your staff produce consistence, complete, and compliant documentation.

5. Your POC Solution Must Be Integrated With All Other Systems 
It’s important to choose a technology solution that eliminates the delay between the time your staff provide services, and when those services are billed. Your solution should allow seamless communication between your community’s care delivery systems and financial systems, in order to ensure that recorded documentation reaches billing in a timely manner.

6. Your Technology Partner Must Provide Training and Support
You need a partner to help you plan for and thrive during the challenging times ahead. Your technology partner should have proven solutions, satisfied customers, and a vision about what the senior living industry will require in the future. Choose a company that will teach you how to leverage their solution for your success.

Interested in learning more? Check out our eBook: “How to Choose Your Point of Care Solution”.