Turn less work away in 2023 with the help of care management software

Turn less work away in 2023 with the help of care management software

In 2022 the National Care Forum (NCF) revealed that 66% of home care providers were turning away potential clients, while nearly half (43%) were closed to new admissions. 

And while the pressures of staffing, including mounting vacancies and Covid-related absences, drive this bottleneck – we believe that resource management may be one of the answers the sector needs.

Organisations that manage a high volume of enquiries from local authorities, or those bidding for care packages from Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs)   can benefit particularly from a digital Referral process.

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Want to know more about our Plan features? Request a copy of our digital care planning guide for more information about how IQ:caremanager is helping home care businesses like yours, to plan.

How Referrals can help with onboarding clients

In IQ:caremanager, we call newly referred clients Referrals. A referral may come from a variety of different sources such as a request for care from a family member via a local authority, or a recommendation from a previous client. 

Once a referral is received, a basic client record is created so it’s easy to see if there is the capacity to deliver their care, with the required level of support.

The referral record puts a workflow in place (e.g. assessment of the client, creation of care plan, home visit, quote, and finally a waiting list) to help manage the process and keep track of their journey through onboarding. 

When a decision is made to take on a client, Referrals are fast-tracked to the activation and scheduling part of the system, as all of their details and paperwork have already been inputted – saving time by reducing the repetition of data entry.

And while the referral process was developed for high-volume organisations taking enquiries from local authorities, it can also be adopted by smaller organisations with very limited capacity – helping them to manage waitlists more effectively.

5 ways using Referrals has helped our customers

1. Creates a professional process for potential onboarding clients.
2. Reduces the amount of time repeating the same data entry tasks when moving a client from the referral stage to an active client.
3. Aids decision making – gives managers the time to access capacity and resources. 
4. Keeps a log of why referrals were not accepted, which can help with future planning and reporting.
5. Allows waitlists to be managed effectively.

Understanding your capacity to take on new work with Draft Scheduling

IQ:caremanager uses a unique draft scheduling process, wherein all scheduling remains in a Draft stage before being made live with the Visit Publishing tool.

This means visit times and carer allocation can be tested, without altering the schedules sent out to carers and clients. Essentially, visits only become ‘live’ when published.

Not only does this provide the opportunity to experiment with rotas and test out new visit schedules, but it has also helped some of our customers model what their service would look like if they took on more clients and carers. 

This means businesses can test whether they have enough resources to bring on extra services and clients and spot potential growth opportunities for the future. It may also help them decide whether there is the capacity to take on new local authority contracts or make a business case for employing new staff.

Want to know more about how IQ:caremanager can help improve care planning? Head over to our Plan page.