The ‘care data’ goldmine: revolutionising the care sector
According to a 2019 study by Care Improvement Associates, one of the hallmarks of ‘Outstanding’ home care organisations was continuous improvement. CQC reports of Outstanding-rated domiciliary care providers pointed to action plans, audits, systems and processes which clearly demonstrate a focus on continually improving care delivery.
In October 2021 Mark Sutton, the CQC’s Chief Digital Officer posted a blog about ambitions and plans to use data to transform regulation. This includes deciding on what data and information are needed to assess quality, creating a framework to collect, manage and use data, and developing a provider portal for easier data sharing.
By utilising a digital care management system – which serves as a centralised repository of digital care plans and schedules, and which captures notes and activity logs from carers as they go about their daily work – care managers have access to a goldmine of care data which can be interrogated and analysed.
Well-led home care organisations will use this insight to spot patterns and look for trends, which in turn can be used to identify where improvements need to be made.
Here are just some of the pieces of insight currently available from Unique IQ’s home care software, with more being added every day.
Productivity and efficiency – the ratio of time scheduled compared to time actually worked, along with the size of schedule gaps.
Service usage – what proportion of care tasks carried out are nutrition, mobility, home help, activities etc.
Keyword analysis – spot trends in client health, well-being and sentiment.
Client health – frequency of falls, incidents and hospitalisations, and whether there are any patterns.
Medication – most frequently taken medications amongst your care population.
Location density – where do your clients tend to cluster compared to the locations of your carers?
Resolution time – the delay between outcomes being created from issues with care and the point at which they are resolved.
Common outcomes – which types of issues are typically raised with care, e.g. care plan not followed, health concerns or insufficient detail in notes.
Compliance – checks at payroll for whether wage rates are National Living Wage compliant.
Care continuity – which carers visit each service user the most.
Forecasting – estimated income from allocated and unallocated calls.
For more information about Unique IQ and our home care software, please get in touch with our team, or alternatively, request a demo.
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