Patient Tracking Tips for Home Health Care Companies
Tracking all the data associated with patients can be one of the biggest challenges faced by a health care company, but tracking this data for home health care patients can offer unique challenges that are compounded by the remote aspect of the job. Luckily, as technology continues to improve so do the ways in which you can gather and analyze this data. You can even find integrated software packages and remote monitoring equipment designed to automatically gather, analyze and report the data you need.
R2R Software Solutions
Key business processes, such as Record to Report, are moving into the realm of automatically updated and integrated software solutions to help gather and process data such as client lists and health care charts. They can even predict how likely patients are to recommend your company to family or friends. You can use these software packages with AI and machine learning to generate reports. Integrating your business software solutions for R2R and other processes saves you the time needed for manual input on each spreadsheet and for updating reports, giving you more time to focus on the core competencies of patient care.
Remote Monitoring
Remotely monitoring your patients has become much easier in recent years with tracking systems built into everything from laboratory equipment to pacemakers. In the world of logistics, the Internet of Things has facilitated tracking the movement of supplies around warehouses and throughout the supply chain. Devices connected through the IOT use RFID chips to communicate directly to the software and eliminate the need for human-to-computer or computer-to-computer interactions to keep track of every moving part. In the health care industry, some hospitals are already using IOT systems to remotely monitor patients. These systems can be set to monitor patient vital statistics and build reports based on that data, alert health care professionals when problems arise and much more. You can even use technology to remotely chat with patients if they have concerns outside of routine visits.
Telehealth
Advances in the accessibility of internet access on home computers and mobile devices have brought telehealth to the industry, which can offer home health care companies some valuable benefits. It is not always helpful or necessary for a client to go into a clinic for a medication check-in or to ask the physician routine questions; for some it can be painful and frustrating to leave the house, and many patients would prefer not to. Instead, a home health care worker can facilitate telehealth appointments and use the system to check in on patients more frequently than their travel time and schedules allow. With this service becoming more mainstream, new features and benefits are being added to improve the quality of calls and of health care.
Net Promoter Scores
Tracking the health of your patients is important, but so is tracking how satisfied they are with your company and employees. Your NPS, or the total percentage of detractors subtracted from the percentage total of promoters based on surveys, shows how well you are meeting client expectations compared to the industry as a whole. Sometimes this number shows you where you can make quality changes to your company, but sometimes it can show you which clients are not a good fit for your business and would benefit from being referred elsewhere. You cannot meet every need of every person, but you can provide the best fit in services for the individual client, even if that means acknowledging that your company is not the answer.
Tracking home health care patients has always been a struggle because it takes more work and time to record all the data each one generates, from vital statistics to satisfaction scores. With the right software and hardware systems, however, you can remotely monitor your patients and record the data with integrated and automated systems. This can free up more time for yourself and your employees to focus on the care needs of individual patients without sacrificing the personal touch expected from your company.
