Geriatric care management software is used by Geriatric Care Managers (GCM) to coordinate care between different departments so residents can retain their independence, stay on track with their treatments, and meet their healthcare needs. As things stand, more and more Americans will need such care.
It is predicted that in 2030, America will have more senior citizens (65 years or older) than children under five. And by 2050, it is estimated there will be 83.7 million Americans over 65 years old, compared to 56 million in 2022. With such an increase in geriatric citizens, healthcare organizations must plan to meet those demands. And that means healthcare providers will need the expertise of geriatric care managers and geriatric care management software to navigate these obstacles.
How Does a Geriatric Care Manager Use Elder Care Software?
A geriatric care manager uses elder care software, such as geriatric care management software, to plan and coordinate care for older adults. These managers are specially trained to ensure the safety of seniors while maintaining a high level of care.
While the role of a geriatric care manager is similar to an MDS nurse, who focuses on PDPM reimbursements and billing, a geriatric care manager has more rounded expertise in areas like bookkeeping, managing personal needs, liaising with insurance companies, and communicating between departments and team members like social workers and clinical staff.
Below are several ways geriatric care managers use geriatric care management software in senior care:
- Coordinating care between team members— such as clinical caregivers, therapists, nutritionists, and social workers—via the long-term care software
- Ensuring all billing information is entered correctly into the facility’s geriatric care management software so the facility can receive accurate reimbursements
- Managing health insurance coverage claims like Medicare billing through the elder care software to ensure residents are on an appropriate health plan that best meets their needs
- Creating a comprehensive care plan using the geriatric care management software, involving family members and staff so that together, they can assist with a resident’s care and recovery
- Noting down a resident’s health care wishes in the long-term care EHR software
- Creating both long and short-term health care goals and documenting them in the elder care software so all authorized staff can access and view them
- Evaluating a resident’s living options and level of care by assessing what ADL assistance they need and recording the results in the geriatric care management software
- Providing accurate resident care data that is shared between the team so they can adequately care for residents
- Referring patients to alternative healthcare providers that best meet their needs
- Promoting emotional well-being by involving family members and the community
Being trained in several areas of care management makes a geriatric care manager the perfect advocate for seniors and residents with multiple ailments. They provide specialized supervision and often offer guidance on living arrangements either for home health or within a facility. Additionally, when needed, they will also accompany seniors to doctor appointments to ensure that medical orders are followed correctly.
Contact us here to learn how our geriatric care management software can aid your facility.
4 Popular Senior Care Software Systems for Geriatric Care Managers
Due to the vast quantity of resident data that geriatric care managers need to collate and organize, a facility must invest in capable senior care software that can meet their expectations while allowing them to perform their duties without sacrificing the quality of care given to residents.
Let’s now look at some of the market’s best geriatric care management software programs.
- Experience Care
Empowering our geriatric care managers with technology is one of America’s healthcare system’s most important goals. And Experience Care’s NetSolutions elder care software does just that by improving documentation processes by incorporating charts and reports into an all-inclusive database. This allows geriatric care managers to streamline multiple reports, access resident data, and view all relevant information via an easy-to-view dashboard stored in a cloud-based system, thus allowing them to create personalized care plans for residents.
As a user-friendly and fully customizable software program that is highly rated in the assisted living software market, nursing home market, and other long-term care facilities, this advanced senior care software has been proven to help geriatric care managers with their daily routines.
With multiple modules, including financial, clinical, and operational, this exceptional long-term care software can easily meet the needs of geriatric care managers by helping:
- Create customized care plans
- Organize resident assessments and reports
- Ensure accurate billing
- Synchronize data to provide excellent care
- CollaborateMD Software
CollaborativeMD provides medical billing and operational management solutions to help geriatric care managers to streamline billing processes. The software is compatible with small and large organizations and is web-based, eliminating upfront and initial setup costs. While the software is user-friendly, users have criticized the software for poor communication and inefficient data entry processes, leading to additional labor costs, as staff needs to input patient data manually.
- Sevocity
Like Experience Care’s geriatric care management software, Sevocity is also cloud-based, allowing users to access patient data remotely. Users have praised the software for its customizable EHR services, unlimited training, and extensive support services.
However, one of the biggest problems is the program’s inefficiency, as caregivers can only access resident charts one at a time. This means that while one caregiver is viewing a resident chart, another staff member cannot enter, update, or view the same chart as long as another staff member is viewing it.
4. Athenahealth
KLAS recently ranked Athenahealth as the 2022 Best athenaClinials Ambulatory EMR for physicians and athenaIDX practice management. Users have praised the cloud-based software for the ease of viewing schedules and patient information, managing orders, and reviewing lab results.
However, others have criticized the software for its poor revenue cycle management (RCM) system, with some users complaining that it takes approximately two to three months to process payments, leading to staff managing their RCM manually.
Implementing the Right Geriatric Care Management Software
When using geriatric care management software, the biggest dealbreaker for geriatric care managers is inefficient software collection and presentation of resident data.
Suppose the facility’s geriatric care management software has poor data collection capabilities. This essentially prevents a geriatric care manager from creating a personalized care plan and navigating the care collaboration for the resident. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for long-term care facilities to implement competent long-term care software that aids—rather than impedes—a geriatrics care manager’s workflow.
Some key features to look for include:
- Medical billing tools that can automatically generate bills and process payments
- EHR software integration to ensure better management of records
- Universal medical codes, like the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and Common Procedure Codes (CPT) that have been built into the software, so caregivers do not need to input them manually
- ePrescribing for efficient medication management, dispensing, and refilling
- Electronic Health Records (EHR) that allow users to record, view, and update resident charts and medical histories
Experience Care is a long-term care software provider that offers effective geriatric care management software. Ideally, one should always book a demo before committing to elder care software for their facility.
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