Electronic care records - what do they cost compared to paper records?
We often consider the cost of having electronic records in place without considering the potential price of staying stuck with paper.
For many care providers, one of the first serious holes electronic records will dig them out of is being challenged that they have committed some form of serious error or malpractice. Here a couple of real-world examples.
Marches Care is a residential service in Shropshire, they use Access’ integrated electronic care plan and medicine management system. During a panel discussion in October 2019 Carey shared one story that drew gasps of recognition from the audience present.
A person in their care had been admitted to the hospital and unfortunately had died shortly after.
Marches faced accusations from family members and hospital staff that they had been responsible for overdosing the person who had died. The police were eventually tasked to investigate...
In a moment of what must have been massive relief, Carey was able to instantly show the investigating authorities what medicine the person had been given, when and by whom, and prove that the resident had not been given any such overdose by Carey or her hardworking staff.
A cast-iron evidence-base
The use of barcode scanners connected to the system meant they could quickly track down the physical evidence that they needed, of how many pills had been given and taken.
This was a quick escape from a frightening incident that could have closed Carey’s business and perhaps resulted in fines or worse for any responsible persons. Without the electronic records and medicine management system this would’ve been impossible.
As Carey explains, if the information was on paper it would’ve taken painstaking investigation to track down where the medicines had been taken from and prove that they had administered the right medicine at the right dose.
What’s more, paper MAR is notoriously vulnerable to gaps in information, illegible handwriting, or incorrectly recorded information. In short, they’re both unreliable and sometimes inaccurate, so much so that even the CQC has made a firm comment on the subject, something they rarely do!
“The key contributing factor for administration errors was poor record keeping. We saw that MARs were either not completed, or not completed accurately. Discontinued medicines and incorrect strengths of medicines were sometimes found on MAR charts.
"These types of errors were more likely when MAR charts were hand-written or included additional hand-written medicines. Where MARs were hand-written in care homes, they had not always been second checked to ensure they were accurate.”
Peace of mind for all concerned
Another more recent example was bought to us by Torbay & South Devon NHS Trust.
They were taking care of a terminally ill patient, who had unfortunately reached the end of their life, but had done so while receiving high quality care, from a compassionate and committed group of people.
The family were understandably upset and began remonstrating with the Trust that they had not done all they could for their loved one. That they had neglecting their care and shortened their final days as a result.
Fortunately, I would say for all concerned, the Trust uses electronic care plans. They were able to show, in detail exactly the kind of care their relative had been receiving, or had refused certain parts of their care, with easily accessible and easy to read typed notes.
This not only gave the Trust strong evidence, but it gave the person’s relatives a fuller picture of their final days. Instead of anger they had information, and a knowledge that their loved on had the control to have their own choices followed in their final moments.
Electronic care records are an investment. But they are one that pays off in so many ways. Especially in moments like this when your organisation is facing a potential crisis, and a long-drawn out struggle to exculpate yourself from charges of guilt.
Electronic records give you the peace of mind, the evidence and the information to draw a complete and reliable picture of the high-quality care you are giving people, quickly, reliably and with minimal effort.
Find out more about how providers across the social care system are using electronic care records.
Or go ahead and arrange your demonstration or get a quote.
