eRostering (also written e-Rostering) is a term, popularised by the NHS, to describe the use of electronic rostering or rota scheduling systems for home care or other types of care. The scope of such an e-Rostering system encompasses management information about shift patterns, annual leave, sickness absence, staff skill mix, appointment/task details and locations of both appointments and each member of staff at any one time.
Holding all this data in one place, rotas can be created more efficiently than ever before. To do this, skills and availability are matched to appointment requirements. Consequently, electronic rostering improves both efficiency and quality of care.
e-Rostering for Home Care Providers
e-Rostering is rapidly replacing traditional approaches to rostering throughout the home care industry. As home care providers are challenged to achieve higher standards of care with fewer staff and tighter budgets, many look to systems improvements to reach elevated efficiency targets.
In a recent study, the Hft Sector Pulse Check (December 2018) has shown that internal efficiency measures (including IT systems such as eRostering) were both high on the agenda for planned activities and something which had already been undertaken by many organisations to meet rising cost pressures.
How does e-Rostering Improve Efficiency?
e-Rostering brings together previously disparate data sources, such as appointment scheduling, tracking, time sheet and invoicing data and removes the need to manually copy this from one system to another and match to individuals in each. Centralising and consolidating data in this way, vastly improves accuracy and processing times.
eRostering systems, such as CarePlanner, go beyond simple consolidation, to automate data processing and reporting requirements. Consequently, it’s possible to produce accurate and professional invoices (taking travel time, mileage and exact call time into account) at the touch of a button.
Efficiency improvements like this have enabled organisations such as Apollo Franchising to save 11 days per month on financial duties! Or Proud to Care being able to save 75% on time take to create their weekly rotas.
How quickly will e-Rostering Pay for Itself?
When evaluating the likely pay-back period for any electronic rostering system, it’s important to weight up the total cost of ownership across points such as:
- Licensing per user
- Dedicated systems hardware
- Implementation costs
- Training costs
- Support costs
against savings in terms of:
- Rota scheduling time
- Invoice generation time and delivery costs
- Reporting time
- Audit preparation time
At CarePlanner, we find many customers see a return on investment very quickly. We enable this by keeping setup and ongoing costs to a minimum through:
- Allowing secure access from anywhere via a normal web browser
- Free training and support
- No set-up fees
- And only charging for administrative users (more info here)
How does electronic rostering fit into CQC Recommendations?
The CQC recommendations around technology to support improvements in care quality are evolving all the time, but their overarching opinion is captured well in the statement below (to quote from their ‘Guidance to Providers’).
“Technology is changing the way people provide care and treatment. The benefits can be huge”
We also like the way the CQC break down considerations for technology to support good and outstanding person-centred care:
Safe
Helping ensure key information is accurate and easy to share with caring professionals in real time.
Effective
Supporting effective communication and more efficient use of resources, including finances.
Caring
Supporting person-centred care and helping staff to spend more time on the things that really matter.
Responsive to people’s needs
Supporting providers to be more proactive and responsive to changing needs by helping to identify developing risks or needs more quickly.
Well-led
Supporting more effective quality assurance through more effective communication, information sharing and improved data analysis.
Ask Your Questions about eRostering Today
If the above points resonate with you and you’d like to find out more about CarePlanner as an eRostering solution for your care agency, feel free to contact us directly here.
Alternatively, you can view an online product tour of some of CarePlanner’s highlights, or arrange an online demo at a time and date which suits you.