3 Characteristics of a Flexible Home Care Software Solution

As a provider in the home care industry, inevitably you’ve heard about the shifting healthcare landscape to outcome or value-based models, and the product and service advancements emerging to help your agency reform to these changes. If that’s the case, there’s a good chance you’ve spent some time probing the home care software market for a solution that suits the goals and needs of your agency, both today and in the future. While there are a number of solutions on the market and different benefits associated with each vendor, it’s not easy to find one that adequately adapts to the individual needs of both your agency and your clients.

A must-have for many home care providers when implementing a software solution is user satisfaction; both clients and providers need to be satisfied with the new technology in order for it to deliver maximum value and also positively impact care delivery. That’s why the AlayaCare platform is equipped with one feature that ensures user satisfaction—flexibility.  

The flexibility of a home care software platform can be determined by it’s ability to adapt to your agency’s workflows and how well its functionality reflects the needs of your clients. Here are some of the characteristics we believe a platform should possess in order to be considered truly flexible:

Encourages interoperability and data sharing

It’s increasingly important for providers to have systems in place that give them quick access to accurate information. Having the ability to deliver and exchange new data to stakeholders and systems of all sizes and capabilities for their own use and interpretation—or in other words, interoperability—can dramatically increase the quality of care.

It’s not uncommon to see home care agencies using different software solutions for different lines of their businesses, which is why data sharing is so important. In order to operate efficiently, home care providers need full visibility into all agency and clinical data in order to improve processes and more importantly client outcomes.

It’s nice to imagine a provider’s needs can be put in a neat box, but the fact is that clients will float back and forth across the continuum of care, and their data should do the same. AlayaCare is a cloud-based platform equipped with restful APIs and the ability to support third party integrations; it is the closest thing to a true platform in home care and provides a combination of functionality, flexibility and efficiency.

Has the ability to match workflows/processes

One of the biggest problems home care agencies have when searching for a new software solution is finding one that can be deployed with ease and minimal disruption.

With the exception that some processes should be altered in the case that they could improve workflow efficiencies, software solutions should be capable of adapting to different workflow models due to the variant nature of home care providers. 

Providers should have the ability to create their own forms not just according to Medicare requirements, but to their own Medicaid, Waiver and/or agency needs if necessary.

Similarly, reporting should be flexible in order to capture required data, in formats that work for the agency. With the AlayaCare platform, you can easily assign user roles and permissions, match your processes with configurable clinical forms and documentation, and eliminate unnecessary data entry allowing you to effectively run your agency, your way, at no extra charge.

Equipped with custom reporting decision support

A truly flexible home care software solution should operate alongside providers in order to advance their goals and improve client outcomes.

Many providers operate in unique environments and need their solutions to adhere to their clients’ specific needs. The AlayaCare platform comes equipped with configurable key performance indicators (KPIs), filters, and a drag and drop report building feature to help agencies quickly and easily pull the information they need to the forefront.

The platform also offers configurable optimization and machine learning decision support to help care workers more efficiently improve client outcomes.

Software flexibility plays an important role in improving client outcomes. Platforms with these characteristics will give providers the tools they need to embrace the shifting home care landscape, and allow them to get the most out of technology in order to improve client care.

Unfortunately, flexibility is a term that is often viewed as a checkbox feature when really it goes much deeper. If you’re in the market for a new software solution, do your research, watch demos, and don’t be afraid to ask plenty of questions to ensure the solution syncs with your needs.

Request a demo of the AlayaCare platform today, and one of our reps will walk you through our truly flexible solution in way that is tailored to your current processes.