The Paper Chase is Over: Adopting Paperless Workflow in Senior Care Facilities
The sight is all too familiar – folders stuffed with forms, records cascading over file cabinets, staff scrambling to locate misplaced paperwork.
For senior care facilities, a dependency on paper processes fuels inefficiency and clutter while hampering care providers’ valuable time with residents. But by embracing paperless workflows, facilities can transform their operations for the better.
The reasons for pursuing paperless systems are compelling. Consider that the average employee spends over 5 hours per week searching for physical files. Or that paper records mismanagement contributes to an estimated 1 in 5 healthcare claims being initially denied.
Going paperless reduces these issues and more by standardizing procedures facility-wide. With intuitive software and a human-centered approach, senior care providers can implement paperless workflows for simplified record keeping, more accurate claims submissions, and above all, elevated quality of resident care.
The Downsides of Paper in Senior Care
Paper dependency severely hampers productivity in senior care facilities. Administering medication, updating health records, tracking ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) - virtually every aspect of caregiving relies on unwieldy paper processes. This paperwork burden contributes to nurse burnout as providers struggle to balance documentation duties with actual resident care. Meanwhile, decades worth of charts and files overrun facility storage rooms.
Environmental Impact
Paper-based workflows also come at a cost to the planet. Healthcare is among the most paper-intensive industries, utilizing an estimated 952 trillion sheets per year. The reams of printed forms, packets, and flyers generated daily in care facilities contribute to significant carbon emissions from paper production. Transitioning to paperless systems is a tangible way for senior care providers to lessen environmental impact.
Less Time at the Desk, More Time at the Bedside
Incorporating paperless workflows allows caregivers to devote more attention to what matters most – nurturing connections with residents. With intuitive record-keeping technology, updating files and scheduling care takes just minutes rather than hours spent rummaging through filing cabinets. Going paperless equips staff with on-demand mobile access to accurate health records so they can instantly review patient information at point of care. The resultant workflow improvements directly enhance resident quality of life with staff better able to focus on compassionate, individualized care.
Embracing The Digital Transformation
Transitioning fully to paperless workflows does not happen overnight. Migrating legacy paper documents into electronic systems, training staff to utilize new technology, transferring organizational knowledge – these phases require thoughtful change management. However, facilities that invest effort into structured digital transformation reap immense rewards in resident care and staff satisfaction.
Simplified Documentation
Well-planned electronic documentation systems save caregivers time charting shift notes, updating care plans, and scheduling ADLs. Intuitive design empowers even non-technical users to master platforms quickly. Equally important are smart built-in validations which ensure documentation accuracy at time of input – a crucial advantage over error-prone handwritten charting.
Secure Centralized Records
Thorough EHR (Electronic Health Records) remove anxiety over misplaced resident charts or illegible scribbles. Cloud-based records integrate the entire care spectrum into one holistic profile – physician notes, medication/treatment plans, images, progress reports, and more. Platform security protections prevent vulnerable health data breaches while role-based access allows staff view precision.
Automated Reminders & Alerts
Paperless systems eliminate missed treatments or uneven care through automated reminders about upcoming physician appointments, when to administer medications, or steps in a care plan. Platform analytics track ADLs, flag potentially harmful trends like sudden weight loss, and identify individuals not receiving adequate attention. These insights direct staff to address issues proactively.
Accelerated Claims Processing
Without accurate paperwork, facilities experience denied or stalled insurance claims that impact revenue. Paperless software validates forms at time of completion and equips users with templates for error-free filing. By submitting digitized records, staff bypass physical document mailing delays. The result - correctly filed claims processed rapidly.
Partnering For Paperless Success
Transitioning workflows without the proper solutions and support in place sets up initiatives to struggle. Mosaic helps guide facilities seeking the benefits of paperless through every phase – from building the project roadmap to system launch and beyond. Our comprehensive solutions allow care providers to improve resident quality of care, achieve operational excellence, and elevate staff satisfaction.
Intuitive Senior Care Software
Mosaic designs senior care tools intentionally user-friendly so that personnel use the system seamlessly as part of their workflow. Solutions integrate the entire care process into a single intuitive program – documenting progress notes, ADLs, building care plans, scheduling visits, tracking census and billing details. The software’s clinical validations and automation free up staff hours previously wasted tracking down records or fighting insurance claim denials.
Ongoing Training & Support
Even intuitive software meets adoption challenges without the right training model. Mosaic’s onboarding emphasizes role-based education so that staff utilize the precise system functionality pertaining to their responsibilities - from caregivers inputting progress notes to billing personnel submitting claims. We reinforce learning with onsite mentoring and helpdesk access.
The Human Touch
What sets Mosaic’s approach apart is understanding paperless implementation affects people equally to processes. We practice empathetic change management because altering workplace tools unavoidably impacts staff who relied on legacy workflows for years. Our integration teams solicit user feedback, involve personnel at every stage, and convey how digital transformation stands to make individual jobs more satisfying and allow for greater resident care quality.
Well-planned electronic documentation systems save caregivers time charting shift notes, updating care plans, and scheduling ADLs. Intuitive design empowers even non-technical users to master platforms quickly.
The Proof is in the Results
Wellmont Health System Eliminates Dozens of Filing Cabinets
Wellmont Health System As a premier regional healthcare provider operating 13 hospitals, Wellmont struggled managing vital records, contracts and accounting documents buried within overstuffed physical cabinets. Each hospital and back-office team relied on disjointed paperwork workflows, compromising productivity and decision visibility.
By switching to Epicor’s cloud document management platform, Wellmont now accesses digital records enterprise-wide for streamlined coordination. Contract analysts route agreement files to proper departments with supporting data automating renewals tracking. Accounting gained workflow efficiencies while opening up space to add staff previously wasted on search requests.
Wellmont’s paperless transition delivered measurable improvements across the enterprise
- Streamlined Documentation Workflows
- 1000+ check payments and supporting documents scanned weekly
- Instant digital accessibility accelerated procedures
- Saved Physical Office Space
- Eliminated all file cabinets cluttering accounts payable department
- Gained room to add another much-needed full-time employee
- Enterprise-Wide Productivity Gains
- Automated contract routing and renewals tracking
- Efficiency jumping across back-office teams like accounting
Wellmont’s extraordinary bottom-line savings and efficiency outcomes spotlight that with the right paperless solution and expert implementation guidance, organizations in any sector can revolutionize engrained processes deemed impossible to overhaul.
Act Now for Quicker Care
Mosaic supports senior living operations in making the leap towards a rewarding paperless future with faster workflows, simplified recordkeeping, and residents receiving better one-on-one care.
Our solutions promote holistic insight so that staff detect heightened falls risks, mental health declines, or inadequate social engagement before situations escalate while avoiding unnecessary hospital transfers. Contact us today for a customized consultation and to learn how to access significant state and federal funding for digital migration programs.
Discover firsthand how Mosaic’s paperless solutions stand ready to revolutionize your facility’s care capacities starting on day one of deployment. The future of senior living is here – and it’s paperless.
