While the private duty home care industry may not be regulated by one single federal entity, providers face a variety of rules and requirements from state programs and payers who require documentation of completed care plan tasks.
There are many different methods for tracking care plan compliance. Some are much more automated than others. Beyond pen and paper, here are a few options:
1) Employee Portal Access to Care Plan
Delta's private duty home care software, AppointMate®, provides an employee portal for caregiver access. In addition to a variety of other functions, the portal allows the employee to review their assigned care plans. By providing this information, employees can go to the appointments equipped with the necessary knowledge to follow the care plan during each visit. If you choose to use this method alone, you will need to require the caregivers to document in the portal, by calling the office or on paper to track what was accomplished.
2) Telephony with Task Entry
In addition to reviewing the care plan, telephony provides an opportunity for your caregivers to document the tasks that they accomplished during each visit. AppointMate offers several options for task entry including an option that reads tasks out loud and asks your caregivers to indicate whether the task is complete, incomplete, or the client declined. By requiring caregivers to document this way, you can report on them to the client, his or her family and your payers.
3) Mobile Task Entry through a GPS Visit Verification Tool
Next week, Delta will introduce AppointMate Companion, a new tool allowing caregivers to clock in and out via their smartphones or mobile devices. In addition to verifying visits based on GPS location, Companion will allow caregivers to view and document on the care plan tasks for each appointment. Caregivers will see the tasks throughout the appointment and document as they go. As with other task entry options, the results will be available within AppointMate and in a variety of reports.
The right method or methods for tracking care plan compliance for your agency depend on the size of your office staff, the specific requirements of the programs and payers, and the capabilities of your software system.
For more information about options available within AppointMate, request a demonstration. We would be glad to discuss how we can help you track care plan compliance.
