Last year, when the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care final report was handed down, one of the many recommendations was about records management. The commissioners were scathing of paper-based systems that are often used, saying they are ‘outdated, inefficient, and can lead to errors’.

They recommended that by July 2022, every approved provider of aged care delivering personal care or clinical care should use a digital care management system.

With this deadline fast approaching, we discuss what a digital care management system is, and how it is it different from a customer relationship management system (CRM) that you may be familiar with.

What is a digital care management platform?

A digital care management system is a centralised platform for all aspects of a person’s care. The majority are cloud based software systems, and these platforms often are referred to as home care software, aged care software, end-to-end care management software and the list goes on.

Unlike a CRM, which is more so a technology for managing all your company's relationships and interactions with customers and prospects, a digital care management system is specifically designed to improve care outcomes for clients.

A good digital care management platform should help you provide better care to your clients. They should be easy to use and give your clients transparency and control.

It’s more than workplace rostering, more than a communication tool, more than medication management. It’s everything in one place, so a client, their loved ones, their support workers and their healthcare professionals have a transparent view of their care.

Some features of home care software, like Lookout, include:

• an all-in-one rostering and scheduling tool,
• a platform where all aspects of a person’s care can be monitored,
• a communication tool between family members, support workers and home care staff,
• a number of tools to support better compliance and decision making, and
• a finance platform to track Home Care Package claims, client statements and unspent funds

What are the benefits of a digital care management platform?

A good digital care management platform should help you provide better care to your clients. They should be easy to use and give your clients transparency and control.

Some benefits of home care software, like Lookout, include:

Remote care monitoring

At the end of the support worker’s shift, they’re encouraged to leave a checkout note in their home care software app. Lookout’s machine learning trained alogithims analyse each note to identify risks in real time, which is then flagged with the case manager. Client and carer surveys also can be used to identify risks too.

This means your team can investigate any potential concerns and address them immediately.

Dynamic care plans

Digital care management platforms can be used to update a client’s care plan. It can be a dynamic document that can include reports from allied health professionals, all support workers, family members and your client. This means everyone involved in their care is up to date on their goals and their progress.

Organisation and communication

Support workers, clients and their families can all log into the app to see who is providing care, when they arrive and when they leave.

This key information and updates about a client is all shared and communicated in one unified place, reducing confusion and mistakes.

Rostering and scheduling

You can easily match employed and contract support workers with clients for ongoing or one-off visits using the scheduling capabilities of home care software. This means you can easily fill gaps and always know you have the right support staff caring for your clients at the time they need it.

Staff support

You can use digital care management platforms to support your staff to achieve their goals and KPIs. You can create business workflows so your staff feel supported and guided in every aspect of their job.

Financial management

No more paper trail of invoices and receipts. With home care software, your clients’ finances, Home Care Package funding, subsidies, unspent funds and fees are all in the one place.

Health integration

Digital care management platforms like Lookout integrate with connected devices and emergency services. When this information is up to date, it helps your care staff to make the right support decisions, leading to better health outcomes for your client.