With many digital care management systems on the market, it’s difficult to know which one is right for your business. Some software providers place more focus on simplicity and convenience to help you log your care and record information as quickly as possible to get it on screen. However, like a paper care assessment, digital assessments shouldn’t be rushed. Missing out key information or producing a care plan that needs clarifying doesn’t benefit the resident and creates more work later down the line. CareDocs is one example of a person-centred software that doesn’t take shortcuts and always puts the resident first. This article explains how we achieve that and what to expect if you choose the CareDocs system for your care or nursing home.

What are the benefits of digital care assessments?

A digital care assessment is simply a care needs assessment that is performed using an electronic device instead of paper. For the most part, the process is the same as paper and the end goal is to create a digital care plan. Because the digital care assessment is carried out on a computer screen there are several benefits that are unique to this method, but each digital care management system provider will have their own way of doing things.

CareDocs reduces admin work across the board, saving you time that can be better spent giving one-on-one care. We’ve made it easier to access, complete and update care assessments without harming the quality of the final product. Because there’s no paper involved, no physical storage space is required, the data is backed-up securely and it only takes a handful of clicks to find the information you need. Paper on the other hand takes up vast amounts of space, uses costly stationery, is cumbersome, can become damaged or misplaced, and it takes time to organise and locate the page you need.

The results of paper care assessments also have to be manually transferred into a paper care plan which is very time-consuming. CareDocs allows you to generate a draft Care Plan in seconds using only the information that you and your resident have provided in the digital Assessment. It’s easy to go through the Care Plan afterwards and make it as person-centred as possible by editing it directly through the software. CareDocs also automatically reminds you when it’s time to update your Assessments and Care Plans to ensure the care you’re providing is always accurate and effective.

What to expect from a CareDocs care assessment

Our thorough Care Assessment feature helps you get to know your residents on a deeper level. Developed by care home owners and sector experts and fine-tuned since 2008, CareDocs puts the people in your care at the heart of your service by giving them a voice. Assessments are user-friendly and simple to work through, and we provide a range of different answer types to promote maximum engagement, communication, and encourage you to add as much information as possible. The more information you enter, the more your residents will benefit from a person-centred care service.

There are over 20 separate assessment sections for all major areas of health including Breathing, Communication, Elimination, Evacuation Risk, Mobility, Nutrition and Hydration. Each section is made up of several sub-sections to ensure every aspect of your residents’ day-to-day care needs are accounted for. Where applicable, we have provided clear descriptions for certain answers to help you and your residents make an informed decision.

When you begin your Assessment, you can choose whether it should display in the first or third person so you can address the resident or their decision maker as appropriate. Your progression through the Assessment on screen is very natural with only questions relevant to previous answers presented to you. This makes your service more efficient and keeps your Assessments flowing in the right direction.

When you’ve come to the end of your Assessment, generating a person-centred Care Plan can be achieved in two more steps. You decide how often you want to receive reminders to update Care Plans with a maximum period of 6 months. When this task comes around, going back into an Assessment will show you clearly which questions need answering or updating to help you get your Care Plans fully back up to date.

What if I need care plans for areas of care not covered by the assessment?

CareDocs is a highly customisable system. You can change style and display options, control which forms are usable, add your own job titles, change security settings, create custom Daily Note events, Group Events and Diary Events, and more. When it comes to care planning, if you provide certain types of specialist care or host regular therapy sessions that aren’t covered within CareDocs’ default Care Plan, you can add your own custom Care Plan sections that include risk assessments and objectives. Custom Care Plan sections do not form part of the Assessment feature. Instead, you simply write up the individual section for each resident where necessary and regularly update it along with the rest of your Care Plan.

What extra tools do I get to support my CareDocs care assessments?

One of the ways we help you make your day-to-day workload more efficient is by eliminating the need to write down the same information repeatedly. The data and care you log in one area of the system, such as in Charts, is used across multiple sections of the system including in your Assessments and Care Plans. Examples of this include the ‘MUST’ Assessment, which combines weight and BMI entries to calculate malnutrition risk, and the Waterlow Assessment which analyses several factors to estimate the risk of pressure sores.

Sometimes you’ll need to locate answers to specific Assessment questions to help you through a situation, or will want to see which Assessments contain unanswered questions or need updating. To save you from checking each individual Assessment you can use dedicated resident reports to pull this information from your Assessments and show you instant results.

If you need to see a quick overview of pending tasks at your home, you can visit your Home Status page to find any Care Plans which are due to be updated. This feature is also available remotely for CareDocs Cloud customers by accessing our Management Portal on any device with an internet connection. CareDocs Cloud customers can also log in to CareDocs Cloud Portal to perform Assessments and view Care Plans remotely.

How do CareDocs care assessments compare to others?

Above all else we value substance over style by putting the residents first. Care assessments and care plans are incredibly important documents which have a clear purpose, but some suppliers have opted to make theirs more visually appealing by being selective of what information should be mentioned so they don’t look crowded or repetitive. Although the idea of simplified care plans may be appealing to some, CareDocs hasn’t strayed away from the fundamentals and principles of good care planning

Our digital Assessments and Care Plans are among the most authentic available and have been designed and developed by multiple care experts over several years. We’re passionate about supporting care providers and giving you the right tools to succeed and deliver first-class care, so it’s been our priority to deliver Assessments of the highest quality with a major focus on person-centred care.

We have gained the reputation as the UK’s leading care planning software by putting residents at the heart of the software and giving you the ability to record as much information as required without any barriers in place or offering shortcuts. As a result, our Care Plans are extremely detailed and will consistently provide effective and accurate plans, risks and general information about each resident.

Want to see CareDocs for yourself? The best way to know if a care management system is right for your business is to see it in action. If you would like to learn more about CareDocs and the benefits of our market-leading care planning and recording software, please book a free demo.