If your NDIS-related work involves using a lot of documents, spreadsheets or creating manual invoices, and you’re wondering why you need care management software for your NDIS business, then this blog is for you. Read on to find out what care management software can do for healthcare organisations working with disability and aged care and how to make your organisation digital.
What is NDIS Care Management Software (CMS)?
You can think of care management software as your assistant that brings together care planning, service delivery, and all those important admin tasks in one place. Imagine all the staff scheduling, staff hour tracking, documentation and invoicing are centralised and handled smoothly. This means you and your team can focus on what matters most - giving personalised, person-centred care to your clients.
Besides, care management software isn't just about keeping things organized; it's about streamlining your organisation's operation and management. With built-in automation, the software gives you a solid foundation and an environment to create an effective workflow, document client's progress, and foster collaboration between your team and clients.
Care Management Software (CMS) vs Client Relationship Management (CRM)?
What is the difference between Care Management Software (CMS) vs Client Relationship Management (CRM)?
A client relationship management (CRM) system focuses on efficiently managing customer information and relationships. The CRM's ultimate goal is to streamline the sales process, making it easier to track leads, follow up on prospects, and ultimately close deals.
On the other hand, care management software (CMS) is all about managing client data for healthcare or social care with specialized features designed to provide better care for your clients at scales. For example, care plan management, progress monitorisation, compliant invoicing, smart rostering, and compliance management. The ultimate goal of care management software (CMS) is to ensure that each client receives personalised care.
Overall, you can think of a CRM as the engine that powers sales and customer relationships, while a CMS is the heart of delivering person-centered care.
The benefits of NDIS Care Management Software
As your organisation grows, it becomes harder to collect, securely store, and organise client data. Besides, It may be difficult for your organisation to keep track of NDIS progress notes, personal plans, rosters, policies and procedures, invoices, etc., as your business grows.
NDIS Care Management Software offers multiple benefits that empower your organisation to deliver the best personalised support at scales. Below are the best 4 benefits that NDIS care management software can bring to your organisation.
Effectively managing your staff
According to research on Royal College, with 70% of healthcare workers experiencing burnout in a recent year, healthcare organisations are at risk of experiencing a reduced quality of care and low retention rates.
NDIS care management software can prevent this risk by providing automated scheduling features and strategic client-carer matching. With these features, service providers can manage all of their staff schedules in one single view and pair caregivers with clients based on needs/certifications and availability to minimise double bookings and non-compliance. As a result, NDIS care management software helps avoid overbooking, promote a healthier work-life balance and reduce turnover rates.
Deliver person-centred care at scales
Fostering a transparent and collaborative environment is crucial when it comes to delivering person-centred care to your clients. NDIS care management software can help bring carers, volunteers, clients and their family members onto the same platform. This benefit ensures that everyone involved in a client's care is informed by real-time updates and feedback.
In addition, the software can also act as a single source of truth, where progress, updates, incidents, care plans, and client information are documented and accessible to all authorised staff and stakeholders.
Staying compliant
NDIS service providers must operate and comply with relevant Australian laws, rules and regulations. There are three key areas of compliance: making service agreements, record keeping and making claims.
With policy and procedure management feature, a care management software like Comm.care allows your organisation to easily manage and update your policies and procedures. Moreover, it allows your organisation to track staff acknowledgements whenever there’s an update, ensuring everyone in your organisation is aligned with the latest standards.
In addition, NDIS requires all organisations to store the client data and notes in a secured cloud-based system in Australia. As a result, NDIS software like Comm.care not only ensures the safety and confidentiality of your data but also aligns perfectly with NDIS compliance requirements.
Lastly, staying current with the NDIS price guide is crucial for accurate billing. By automatically updating the latest NDIS pricing, NDIS care management software like Comm.care can ensure that your claims always have the correct line item with the correct rate. This not only streamlines the claim process but also minimises errors, ensuring smoother financial operations for your organisation.
Get paid faster
Care management software like Comm.care allows you to create thousands of compliant invoices with the latest NDIS price in minutes. As a result, your organisation can reduce errors, speed up the claiming process and improve cash flow.
Top Features of NDIS Care Management Software
In this section, we will delve into the essential features that set NDIS care management software apart. Each feature below plays a crucial role in optimising care delivery and operational management for your organisation,
Centralised Care Management
NDIS care management software offers a centralised platform that acts as a single source of truth for all client information. This feature ensures that every piece of client data is accessible in one unified place. As a result, it streamlines the process of creating, managing, and monitoring each client's goals, progress, and care plan.
For example, Comm.care allows your organisation to manage and edit the client's information, goals and service delivery roadmap in one platform.
In addition, our timeline feature allows your team to find all the documents such as progress notes, incident reports, and case instructions from the clients or their love ones in a single view. As a result, Comm.care not only streamlines your operation but also improves quality of care and fosters stronger relationships between your team and clients.
Progress Management
Managing your client's progress is a crucial part of delivering person-centred care. In Comm.care, we have a progress management feature called roadmap. It allows your organisation to manage, and plan the support delivery so that it's in sync with the client's care plan and budget.
While executing the care plan, you can keep track of your client's budget allocation for each service, fund utilisation rate, and estimated time for utilising all the funds. Besides, a custom reminder enables your organisation to schedule the regular review of service delivery and budget status. As a result, your organisation can make necessary adjustments to avoid surpassing a client's fund.
Smart Staff Rostering
Staff rostering is one of the key features of NDIS care management software. It is designed to simplify the process of creating and editing staff rosters. With this feature, you can manage your staff availability in one single view to effectively prevent scheduling conflicts and overbooking.
In addition, each team member, including managers, staff and volunteers can access personalised calendars. Besides, the owner or manager can set up alarms and assign daily and weekly tasks for their staff across the organisation.
Lastly, a few NDIS care management software like Comm.care also offers the ability to set up and manage recurring shifts. As a result, your team can stay one step ahead and be ready to deliver better, more coordinated care.
Staff Hour Tracking
The staff hour tracking feature is essential for managing your staff's billable and non-billable hours effectively. This feature allows managers to stay on top of their team's working hours, ensuring accurate time management and efficient payroll processing.
Furthermore, NDIS software like Comm.care also provides weekly hour allocation reports, which help you avoid over-booking. If your organisation uses a payroll system, Comm.care also allows you to generate staff hours reports to import into your payroll system.
Bulk Claiming
Delayed payment is one of the problems that gives many NDIS service providers a headache.
With the bulk claiming feature, NDIS software like Comm.care allows you to export timesheets and create thousands of compliant invoices with the latest NDIS price in minutes (or in 3 clicks in Comm.care!). Then, you can directly upload them to PRODA and/or your accounting system, such as Xero, MYOB, or QuickBooks.
This feature ensures that invoices are not only accurate but also compliant with NDIS standards, reducing errors and delaying payments. This efficiency not only accelerates the claiming process but also allows you to focus more on delivering quality care rather than administrative tasks.
Policy and Procedure Management
With a policy and procedure management feature, your team can have secured access to all organisational documents in a unified view. As a result, your staff can quickly find the information they need without the hassle of sifting through multiple files or systems.
In addition, NDIS software like Comm.care allows your organisation to set access permissions for different team members. As a result, your data can be secured and safe from unauthorised changes.
When there is a change in your organisation's policy or procedure, Comm.care allows your management team to keep track of which staff members have acknowledged the changes. This feature ensures that everyone is informed of the latest standards.
How to choose a Case Management System?
Choosing the right care management software is a crucial decision for your organization. It's not just about picking a tool; it's about finding a solution that aligns perfectly with your operation and your team's needs. In this section, we'll guide you through the key factors to consider when selecting a care management system. These factors will help you make an informed choice that benefits both your team and your clients.
The Ease of Use
The ease of use of a care management system (CMS) is important, especially for healthcare professionals who come from a non-technical background. An ideal CMS should simplify the workload and equip your team with essential functions to deliver high-quality care. For example, Comm.care's feed feature allows your team to collaborate, communicate with clients and their loved ones, and receive real-time updates. It also centralizes crucial documents such as progress notes and incident reports in a single view so that you can manage the client's progress easily.
Third-Party Integrations
Integrating care management software with external applications helps your organisation transfer data efficiently and securely. Software like Comm.care can connect with payroll system like Xero, MYOB, Quickbooks, and funding sources such as NDIS, DSS (DEX), MDS, etc. As a result, your organisation can bulk data export, streamline payroll accuracy, reduce administrative tasks, and minimise errors.
Data Privacy and Security with Cloud-Based Systems
NDIS requires all organisations to store client data and notes in a secured cloud-based system that stores information in Australia. Therefore, using cloud-based software for client data storage is crucial for your compliance.
With an Australia-hosted AWS (Amazon Web Services) data centre, Comm.care ensures your data is well-managed and available to your team wherever and whenever you need it. Besides, you can control access at both organizational and individual levels, ensuring data security and avoiding unauthorized alterations.
Set-up Cost
A care management system's monthly fees and initial setup costs are critical factors that impact your return on investment. While many systems have significant setup expenses, Comm.care offers a free setup and access to unlimited tutorials. The $0 set-up cost helps your business establish operations without a substantial initial financial commitment.
Experience It First
It's always beneficial to personally test a care management software. This hands-on experience gives you a real feel for its features. Getting used to a new software takes a bit of time, but once you are comfortable, you will make a better decision and better understand what you need and what can be worked around.
Booking a demo to see the software in action is also a great idea. It provides you with a visual understanding of how the software functions, its features, and its compatibility with your current workflow. This experience can be important in determining if the software addresses your specific needs and fits seamlessly into your operations.
If you are interested in exploring how Comm.care can help your business save time and deliver better care at scales, click here to book a demo with us now.
Deliver Person-centred Care with Comm.care
People with disabilities often face infantilisation from the society. People frequently presume to know better than the individuals themselves about what they need, despite these people living with their disabilities every day. While people with disabilities need additional support, they should receive personalised care and attention from service providers.
However, providing personalised care becomes challenging when your organisation start expanding. Care might not be well-coordinated, important details could be missed, and handling paperwork becomes a big, time-consuming task. It makes quality care delivery and efficient participant management harder than it should be. Let's get "good" busy with Comm.care!
Since 2013, our software, Comm.care, has revolutionised the way 800+ Australian businesses operate, and help their participants achieve their goals at scales. Explore how we can help your business here. Comm.care offers all the care management features that any healthcare organisation needs with NDIS, DSS, MDS, CHSP or Client fee for service as their funding source, allowing them to manage, store and access all client data in one place.
These are a few ways Comm.care can help you better manage your organisation:
- Collaborate with clients, their loved ones and your team.
- Ensure client data privacy and security with an Australia-hosted cloud system.
- Manage your staff availability, set up and manage recurring shifts
- Bulk invoice with direct integration to your accounting system (Xero, MYOB, Quickbooks)
- Manage multiple funding sources in one place (NDIS, CHSP, HCP, DEX, MDS etc.)
- Create group rosters and send notifications to your staff
- Document and claim multiple line items (including transport) in a single progress note
- The web app allows users to access Comm.care from anywhere, anytime.
Take a level up and migrate your business from excel sheets to a feature-packed cloud-based care management system like Comm.care. Book a free demo with us now!
Comm.care Team
Comm.care is a comprehensive platform designed to seamlessly streamline care management, invoicing, rostering, and compliance process. Comm.care offers a unified platform for organisations to collaborate with other care institutions and manage care for the elderly, people with disabilities, along with their families and friends.
Visit Author