How access to resident information via mobile devices can help improve the outcomes for your residents

Due to the dynamic nature of the Aged Care Industry facilities are focusing their efforts on developing more efficient and productive ways to manage their facility. Easy access to accurate data is imperative in delivering the highest quality of care to your residents. We are seeing the use of electronic devices in a range of different industries and aged care is no different.  

Your resident information can be managed through the use of VCare Any-ware on your mobile devices. VCare Any-ware enables carers, nurses and other clinical staff to access resident care plans, notes and observations and resulting triggers from the devices in the palm of their hand. We’ve complied just a few of the ways mobile devices can help improve outcomes for your residents. 

Accuracy of information and resident records

Resident records are available through the press of a button and records are always up to date. This ensures staff always have the information they need to provide the highest level of care to residents.

For example VCare allows care plans to be accessed on mobile devices, this allows immediate access and ensures all staff have access to comprehensive and accurate care plans for their resident. Modifications to care plans can be recorded in VCare any-ware giving staff constant access and automatically being reminded when plans need to be reviewed, either by the residents, GP or by the nursing staff. VCare provides a template allowing staff to set up their own assessments and outcomes that are specific to the resident so that they are always receiving the correct care and staff are aware of all assessments that have been completed and their results.  

Access information, anytime, anywhere

Having records and information accessible through VCare Any-ware allows staff to access and input their notes from anywhere at any time. Staff no longer have to go away and input their results at a later date it can be done quickly and immediately with a resident so information is easier to recall and reduces the likelihood of double handling. On the contrast if a staff member finds themselves busy they can easily go away with a device and input the data at a time and where suits them.  

Being able to access this information from anywhere means facilities located across multiple sites can keep up to date with records at every location and allows top level management to monitor information input to ensure it is in line with policies and procedures.   

“We have saved a lot of time through VCare. We are more mobile and are no longer restricted by where the paper or supervising staff are. This means more support for frontline staff who can remote access senior staff members who may be on the other side of the site or off-site completely.” 

Tara Milne-Pukeko Blue 

Access information in real-time

All information related to a resident is managed and available in VCare allowing staff to quickly enter progress notes, tracking the date, time and the staff member who recorded a note. As soon as information is input into VCare it becomes instantly available to all those with approved access, for example, resident assessments can be recorded on the mobile app which allows the data to be available to the appropriate staff immediately. Care Plans can also be scheduled and caregivers will be notified when these are due so nothing gets missed and your residents aren’t being over assessed. Full notes history is retained and staff are able to search for specific notes by using specified words or the staff member who added them 

“It’s the follow on through that I think we found with electronic records has been so much easier, the identification of tasks that are overdue, the linkages of information and duplication has been one of the biggest things we feel we have been able to manage a lot better.” 

Jo Sime – Presbyterian Support Otago 

Comprensive Reporting

Paper-based reporting is tedious and time consuming and can result in minor incidences or activities being missed. The data collection process is slow, and difficult to collate and report on. This results in data that is not in a form that is easily maintained for timely and effective reports. It can also result in reports not being up to date or missing critical detail. By enabling staff to enter information through VCare through mobile devices data is more reliable resulting is effective reports.

Within VCare, multiple reporting options are available from analysing falls to being able to plan care items and identify ongoing risk areas. Giving staff the ability to access relevant reports will help them perform to the best of their knowledge and means more effective and timely mining of relevant data. Providing more in-depth reporting options ensures no areas of care are missed and residents records are as detailed as possible to ensure accurate care tailored to their needs.  

“I would recommend VCare – very professional and it has incredible reporting functionality for us. I also like the global view as you don’t feel so disjointed. Just the incident reporting alone is going to save me hours of work.” 

Lizzie McIvor- Presbyterian Support South Canterbury 

Auditing

The key problem with paper-based records is the multiple data entry points. Records are easily lost or duplicated and it can be frustrating and time consuming for users to manage. Not only is it difficult for staff to stay on top of records but can result in inaccurate or out of date information about residents. Having VCare on mobile devices allows a single point of data entry, as soon as results or information is input into the device it stored within the secure VCare system. This ensures up-to-date audit logs to provide a date-driven system with an audit trail that ensures your residents can be confident they are being cared for to the highest standard.  

“For me, it’s being able to keep things all together, say if an auditor walked in and they asked you about something that happened you could access that information straight away.”  

Joanne Mckenzie -Summerset (Wigram)