MED e-care eMAR vs ATLAS eMAR vs Camascope eMAR - Software comparison
Are you looking for the best eMAR to help you manage medications in your care home?
Many care homes are adopting electronic medication administration record (eMAR) systems for more efficient medication management with less medication errors.
At the Access Group, we work with thousands of nursing and residential care providers to help them improve their medication management. We supply a comprehensive suite of care management solutions including our own electronic medication management software.
In this article we will compare three popular medication administration systems on the market: MED e-care eMAR, ATLAS eMAR, and Camascope eMAR. To avoid bias, we will not be including our own product in the comparison.
By comparing the features of each system, we will help you decide which is most suitable for your care home.
MED e-care eMAR
MED e-care eMAR offers medication management for care homes, focusing on stock management as well as the ordering and administration of medicines. It is designed to replace paper medication administration record (MAR) systems with a safe and trustworthy digital alternative. By tracking the ordering and delivery of medicines and automating reports, MED e-care eMAR improves operational efficiency.
What’s included
MED e-care eMAR offers the following features:
Pharmacy integration
MED e-care eMAR is integrated with Boots and other major pharmacies. It also integrates with many independent pharmacies using patient medication record (PMR) systems including Pro-Script Connect, Positive Solutions and RxWeb.
Centralised dashboard
All resident information is displayed on MED e-care eMAR’s administration screen, which displays residents’ medical conditions and allergies along with their medicines administration records (MAR). The system will send alerts regarding time-sensitive medications, treatments, and follow-ups.
For users of the MED e-Care care planning system, the administration screen also links to live care plans, care assessments, care notes, wound tracking, and incident tracking.
Stock control
MED e-care’s eMAR oversees medication stocks whether they are traditional monitored dosage systems, blister packs or original packaging. The system can be tailored to the needs of the care provider to reduce waste and overstocks.
When stocks are low, notifications appear on the centralised dashboard to alert staff.
Care software integration
MED e-care’s eMAR integrates with other care technologies including Nourish, Person Centred Software, and Care Vision. This facilitates one touch data entry and the sharing of data across platforms.
Reporting
MED e-care’s eMAR includes tools for generating audit reports and statistics to allow managers to monitor inventory levels and shift information. This reduces time spent on record-keeping while facilitating efficiency improvements.
User reviews
MED e-care’s dashboard is easy to use and allows management to quickly identity areas that need attention. Residents’ photos disappear once their medication has been administered. This means it is easy to tell on a single screen if all the medications for the current day have been signed off.
MED e-care’s data reports allow management to improve patient outcomes and save time when completing audits. Residents can be sorted by room or name and notes can be added as required. The user interface is accessible to people with no technical expertise.
ATLAS eMAR
ATLAS eMAR allows care home providers to manage their medication administration safely and efficiently. Time required on routine tasks is greatly reduced when it comes to booking in medication, reordering medication, and auditing care homes. Its processes enable continual monitoring of residents’ well-being and the elimination of human error.
What’s included
ATLAS eMAR offers the following features:
Barcode technology
The Atlas PCS is a hand-held device to show staff which medications should be administered and at what time. This guards against medication errors and reduces adverse drug events. Staff can scan the medication’s pharmacy label using the device’s barcode reader. Atlas’ device automatically runs safety checks on medication, dose, timing and recipient. Any potential issues will be flagged.
However, Atlas’ barcoding technology is dependent on the provider using an Atlas partnered pharmacy.
Pharmacy integration
The ATLAS medication system digitally connects providers with a network of pharmacies to allow for efficient and transparent medication ordering. Participating pharmacies follow a strict protocol for dispensing medication. Each prescription has a barcoded label so that it can be scanned on the Atlas PCS hand-held device and logged into the eMAR.
Centralised dashboard
ATLAS eMAR has a centralised dashboard which offers a comprehensive overview of medication administration in one place. The dashboard shows full audit trails for each transaction, giving care home providers complete oversight of their service.
Scanned prescriptions are viewed as images on Atlas’ centralised dashboard. The dashboard provides real-time reports to monitor residents’ therapies. For example, the clinical medication report shows the status of a resident’s medicines ensuring that reviews can be actioned when needed.
Compliance
Atlas’ eMAR system helps care providers with regulatory compliance. The system ensures compliance with PRN (pro re nata) policies, controlled drugs procedures, and industry standards such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
By having a holistic and unified system, issues such as missing entries on MAR (medication administration record) charts are a thing of the past.
Stock control
Atlas’ medication system allows for efficient management of stock levels to ensure medications are available as needed while avoiding wasteful overstocking. The system prevents medication errors due to stockouts or expired medication. Balancing medicine stock levels is fundamental to sound medicines management and is part of providing a quality care service.
Care software integration
Atlas eMAR integrates with Person Centred Software and other care planning systems.
Reporting
Atlas’ reporting capabilities allow care home providers to analyse medication administration trends allowing for more informed decision-making.
Atlas’ group reporting tool, specially designed for care homes, provides a single rating for medicines management. This allows groups to compare performance between services, allowing areas of improvement to be easily identified. Other reports can identify staff training needs and areas of practice that need improvement.
App functionality
The ATLAS eMAR app for Android links care providers with pharmacies. Data is shared securely giving authorised users access to complete medication records for any resident. The app facilitates safe administration of medicines to residents using barcode validation and automates reordering of repeat prescriptions.
Offline capacity
ATLAS eMAR has a hybrid offline/online model. This means that if the internet connection is lost, data will still be available locally, allowing operations to continue.
However, as Atlas works in an offline capacity continually then syncs when docked to the hub, it introduces a risk of overdoses when data is stored offline.
User reviews
ATLAS eMAR allows care home providers greater control over managing medicine stocks by eliminating errors and reducing waste. It also offers the ability to audit all aspects of medicines management to ensure compliance with CQC inspections.
The Altas PCS hand-held devices, equipped with barcode scanners, immediately alert the carer if the medicine they are about to administer is incorrect. This significantly increases the safety of residents and aligns with CQC compliance measures.
The reports allow managers to improve the quality of their care by identifying areas where services can be improved, and where staff may need additional training.
Camascope eMAR (formerly VCare Systems)
Camascope eMAR (formerly VCare Systems) offers complete end-to-end medication management for care providers. The system tracks prescriptions, showing if they have been processed or are out for delivery. Another benefit is improved medicine compliance, as carers are automatically alerted if medicines have been missed.
What’s included
Camascope eMAR offers the following features:
Barcode technology
Camascope’s eMAR offers barcode scanning to ensure that the right medication is given to the right resident at the right time. The technology can schedule complex doses and time-sensitive medications. It will also issue warnings about potential medication clashes. Witness verifications can provide an extra a layer of safety when administering specific medications.
Pharmacy integration
Camascope’s eMAR offers direct integration with independents and nationwide pharmacy chains including Boots, and Well. Complex doses can be set up and automatically replicated for future cycles. This allows for end-to-end order tracking with seamless integration and fewer phone calls.
Centralised dashboard
The Camascope portal (formerly VCare portal) offers a centralised dashboard which allows managers to remotely track and manage medicine compliance across all their homes. The software prevents errors by ensuring that medicine clashes and other discrepancies are quickly spotted and rectified.
Compliance
Camascope complies with patient data safety and information governance protocols. It meets NHS DSPT (Data Security and Protection Toolkit) standards as an approved supplier of remote monitoring services. It is PEN (penetration) testing certified against cyber attacks. Camascope is accredited with ISO 27001 compliance for information security management.
Stock control
Medicine stock levels are tracked in real time and displayed within the Camascope portal and app. Alerts are triggered when a particular medicine stock is low. Medicine returns and destruction are logged on the system to demonstrate compliance.
Care software integration
Camascope integrates with Nourish, Person Centred Software, KareInn, and other care management solutions.
Reporting
Camascope sends email summaries of medicine compliance on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. This allows managers to visualise medicine compliance without logging in. Reports are customisable and cover all aspects of medicine management including missed doses, medicine stock levels, MAR charts and PRN follow-ups.
However this means that reporting is not available on demand.
App functionality
Camascope’s VCARE EMAR app for Android enables carers to record vitals and medication administration details. The app allows care home providers to monitor the wellbeing of their residents.
Offline capacity
The Camascope app has an offline mode so that medicine administration can be recorded even if the internet connection is lost.
User reviews
Camascape’s eMAR is made with great attention to detail, covering everything from managing interims to implementing PRN protocols. It accommodates different methods of medicine administration such as blister packs and original packs.
The ability to see missed medications across every home in one screen, without having to log into the system for each home separately, is invaluable for medicine adherence. The system can instantly generate a report on missed and refused medications for any given period.
Conclusion: MED e-care vs Atlas vs Camascope
All three systems have strong core features including pharmacy integration, centralised dashboard, stock control, care software integration and reporting.
But Atlas and Camascope both offer additional features to MED e-care, namely barcode technology, compliance, app functionality, and offline capacity.
Although Atlas and Camascope have identical feature sets, there are small but important caveats to each:
- Atlas works in an offline capacity continually, syncing only when docked to the hub. This has the potential of causing overdoses.
- Camascope sends out periodic email summaries of medicine compliance, but this means that reporting is not available on demand.
Access Medication Management – our solution for your care home
At Access we offer Access Medication Management, our own eMAR system for care homes. It integrates seamlessly with our Care and Clinical system that helps you plan, record and monitor the delivery of care to your residents.
We have been offering care industry products for over 15 years and currently supply over 6,000 care homes.
Access Medication Management has all the key features you need for your care home, including:
- Barcode technology
- Access Point of Care App for Android and iOS
- Seamless offline capacity
- Integration to Access Workspace
- Integration to your pharmacy provider of choice.
Erskine, the largest care providers to veterans in Scotland, use Access Medication Management software to enhance medicine outcomes and eliminate missed medications.
Watch this 2-minute video to see what Erskine have to say about Access Medication Management:
To find out more about the medication management software we offer at Access, contact us here to discuss your needs or book a demo.
For more free information on medication management, including lots of helpful guides, check out our safer medication management hub.
