People-centred care plans are at the heart of delivering efficient, high-quality care. As the care industry digitises, your care organisation is likely to be considering digital care planning software as your go-to solution to support your day-to-day operations.
In this guide, we’ll explore how care planning software supports the accomplishment of your organisation’s care initiatives.
What is a care plan?
A care plan is a detailed set of information that contains the specific care an individual requires. It provides a reference for care professionals as well as showing people in care and their families the customised service they will be receiving. It is also an important reference for the CQC in England and other regulatory bodies, such as the Care Inspectorate in Scotland, Social Care Wales and the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) in Northern Ireland, when evaluating the level of care provided by your organisation.
A typical care plan covers the following topics
Description of Care
As a roadmap for the delivery of care, a good plan is developed through active engagement and the establishment of a genuine partnership between the person in care, and the care team who will be providing it.
Medication Management
The care plan must ensure that the care recipient gets the correct medication, both the correct dosage and to the correct schedule. Records must be consistent and accurate for this to be maintained appropriately.
Delivery Roadmap
All care plans must have an easily accessible list of actions to be taken to ensure that those being cared for are safe and comfortable.
Whilst containing vital information on everything from the care receivers’ personal needs to what should be done in emergencies, the key purpose is to communicate who is doing what, when they are supposed to do it, and how it should be done.
The care plan is based on a thorough needs assessment, to ensure that no vital elements are missed throughout the care delivery process. And because it is regularly reviewed and adapted for changing needs and preferences, it needs to be shareable and easily accessible for everyone involved. This includes all members of the care team, care recipients themselves and their loved ones.
Why move to digital care planning software?
The government intends for 80% of care providers – which includes home care providers and care homes – to move to digital record-keeping platforms by March 2024, although approximately 40% are still using paper records.
Primarily, the reasoning is to improve the quality of care given, by ensuring that all records are securely stored, but still easily accessible and reducing the risk of lost records.
Beyond pure statutory compliance, a good care planning software solution should offer the following benefits:
- Risk management: Ensuring more accurate records are kept on a more consistent basis is paramount, while also storing information securely. Regulatory compliance is also a crucial factor, as well as improvements to the responsiveness of care and reducing the chances of errors
- Quality of care: Using a digital platform makes preparation for patients easier as accurate records can be accessed instantly, something that also promotes improved continuity of care
- Accountability: While also supporting with regulatory compliance, a good platform will allow for greater transparency, providing visibility for family and friends and allowing their participation in the care for their loved ones.
A recent independent report from SCIE (Social Care Institute for Excellence) shows the criteria against which software in the digital care planning field is measured, and when a platform performs well against these criteria, it offers significant benefits to both the carer and the service users.
As you can see, PASS performs strongly against these criteria, which we’re very proud of.
How does care planning software save time for care providers?
Digital care planning supports your entire care operation, helping to bring teams together to deliver exceptional care while reducing time-consuming administrative duties.
Here are some specific ways that care planning software helps to save time:
Faster care plan creation
Developing a care plan can be an intensive process. Sometimes it can need the input of a number of different professionals, often spread across different locations.
With the right digital care planning tool in place, all the right people can feed into the care plan easily and remotely, both saving time and reducing the risk of miscommunication. Additionally, with handy features like GP Connect, care providers from all care settings can have real-time access to the latest prescriptions and notes added by a care receiver’s GP.
Instant, accurate data and management
Using a centralised digital platform ensures that care records are accessible, easy to check, and simple to edit. So if any new information comes to light or changes need to be made to the care plan, not only is it quick and easy to do so but all other team members will be able to see the updates in real time.
This can be as simple as a carer noting what a care receiver prefers for their breakfast, updating important information about their medication and, as the data is held in a central cloud-based location, all relevant parties have access to the updated information as soon as it is uploaded.
Comprehensive documentation all in one place
When a member of your team needs to look something up in a digital care plan, it can be instantly accessed on any device, preventing back-and-forth and ensuring timely delivery. From medication details to care preferences and emergency information, everything is right in the palm of the caregiver’s hand when they need it.
What funding is available for digital care planning?
A total of 42 ICS regions have been outlined across England in order to engage with local care providers and enable them to access the available funding. They have four key aims:
- Improving outcomes in population health and health care
- Tackling inequalities in outcomes, experience and access
- Enhancing productivity and value for money
- Helping the NHS to support broader social and economic development
The Digitising Social Care Fund has made £25 million available to Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in 2022/23 to support care providers to adopt technologies that can transform care.
Each ICS is at a different stage of engagement with their local providers but it is expected that they will be initiating outreach plans throughout 2022-23 to help each region achieve the target of 80% digitisation.
What do the regulators say about care planning software?
Regulators across the country are keen to see digital adoption by all types of care providers. For instance, The Care Inspectorate for Scotland outlines its vision as ‘To improve the care and wellbeing of people in Scotland by making the best use of digital technologies in the design and delivery of services.’
And of course, the CQC in England are also keen to see more people using digital tools to improve their standards of care.
What does the CQC think about care planning software?
The CQC is very much in favour of digital care planning software and other technologies that support digital care and has expressed this support since 2018.
They believe it is very helpful in achieving a high grading set by the 5 KLOEs and have published several case studies to support this investment.
What does SCIE (Social Care Institute for Excellence) have to say about care planning software?
The SCIE has also expressed strong support for digital care technologies, citing the ability of these platforms to support real-time communication as essential to delivering person-centred and coordinated care.
They have also highlighted digital solutions as a driver for:
- High-quality care in light of the pandemic,
- Supporting mass remote working,
- The need to deepen the relationship between social care and health care
- Meeting the increasing pressures on the industry for the expanding number of people in need of care
Digital care plan software – Delivering exceptional care while saving time and money
everyLIFE Technologies was founded on a passion for empowering care providers to deliver the highest standards of personalised care easily and efficiently. Our secure, cloud-based digital care planning software was designed with the input of the industry and now supports over 100,000 people.
All-in-one PASS is a trusted and proven platform tailored specifically for care providers, offering Care Planning, Roster Management, and powerful reporting and audit capabilities that allow for in-depth insights.
Now offering a comprehensive roster management solution as well as care plan creation, real-time tracking, online and offline alerts, and best-in-class reporting, we work hard every day to make critical data accessible, secure, and usable for your team.
Have a look at our case studies to see how we’ve helped organisations just like yours manage the rewarding digitisation journey.
