4 Outcome-Based Features Your Home Care Software Needs to Improve Wound Care Management

Wound care is easily one of the largest needs for home care services. According to the Canadian Home Care Association it is estimated that roughly one-third of all home and community care clients have wound care needs and 50% of care delivered by home care programs involves the management of wounds.

Home healthcare professionals are faced with daily challenges related to wound management and the assessment and treatment of a variety of wounds. Without the appropriate tools, accurate documentation and consistent collaboration amongst clinicians, it becomes more and more difficult to successfully manage would care programs.

While there are a number of factors that contribute to the success of a wound care program in a home care setting, outcome-based information is proven to be an effective tool to improve program processes and outcomes.

Here are four outcome-based features that your home care software solution should provide in order to improve wound care management: telehealth/telemedicine, rich media enabled mobile clinical documentation, data reporting and analysis, and educational / family portals.

Telehealth/Telemedicine

Caring for patients in the comfort of their home or long-term environment reduces physical and emotional stress, as well as considerable time and cost expenditures. Real-time transmission through remote monitoring, video conferencing, and store and forward technologies is an accurate and cost-effective way to monitor and improve wound care outcomes.

These tools minimize the need for travel and allow care workers to share data remotely, thus facilitating interactions and collaboration between clients and health professionals and also enhancing communication and access to wound care specialists when necessary.

AlayaCare is the only home healthcare software platform with a fully integrated telehealth in addition to clinical documentation, electronic health records, agency management, point-of-care and portals.

Rich Media Enabled Mobile Clinical Documentation

Mobile devices generally come equipped with high-resolution cameras that give care workers the opportunity to capture and share images from the client’s home. A point-of-care clinical documentation app that enables home care professionals to record, track and communicate wound care findings through digital images can increase transparency between clinicians and improve the overall accuracy of wound care; a truly outcome-focused practice.

The AlayaCare care worker mobile app is equipped with rich media functions and gives field staff full access to scheduling, clinical documentation and client demographics anytime, anywhere and from any device.

Data Reporting & Analysis

Having clear visibility into previous assessments and the progression of the care plan is crucial for improving wound care outcomes. Outcome-focused solutions should give care workers clear access to a client’s visit history and clinical data which can allow the care worker to be proactive in the re-assessment of the wound.

In the AlayaCare solution, wound care histories can be viewed in both graphic and text-based formats, with the inclusion of images so care workers have all the data they need to make fully informed, outcome-focused decisions.

Educational Portals

Stakeholder portals are an effective method of user support for both clients and care workers. Screens with definitions, videos, tutorials and educational content allow all key stakeholders to take additional steps to improve wound care outcomes.

Considering wound care is a specialized area of nursing, these features can also aid in the training of care workers who may not have the specialized training to accompany their role.

AlayaCare’s stakeholder portals integrated into our own back office module allows providers to deliver relevant content and share key information with clients and their loved ones. You can keep all stakeholders up-to-date on the client’s status regardless of time or distance.

Wounds cost the health system $3.9 billion annually (approximately 3 percent of total healthcare expenditures) [Wounds, National Stakeholder Round-table, June 2012].

Leveraging these outcome-focused software capabilities can enhance client and care worker experiences, enhance communication between multiple healthcare professionals, reduce healthcare expenditures, and most importantly improve wound care outcomes.

As a leading provider of an end-to-end home care software platform, AlayaCare provides innovative technologies such as a Point of Care App, Telehealth Dashboard, Family Portal, RPM software, and Machine Learning algorithm-based clinical support tools, which allow for better coordination and quality of care across the healthcare continuum. With our patient-centric care plan feature, you can ensure your care workers and clients have the tools they need to be more confident and knowledgeable in wound care management, increasing transparency and ultimately improving patient outcomes.