St Andrews has implemented the eCase software platform to streamline operations, increase efficiency, and meet compliance requirements.

St Andrews is a not-for-profit organisation providing residential aged care, retirement living and community care services to over 600 people in the Ballina Northern Rivers and Far North Coast region in NSW. St Andrews has implemented the eCase software platform to streamline operations, increase efficiency, and meet compliance requirements.

Speaking to a full house at the recent eCase Customer Conference, St Andrew’s Rebecca Hetherington, Care Services Administrator and CEO Todd Yourell, shared the outcomes they are achieving by implementing the eCase Residential Aged Care Mobile App.

Todd Yourell, CEO St Andrews Ballina describes the eCase mobile app as a modern care app that increases staff accountability and aligns with St Andrew’s focus on providing person-centred care.

“eCase is easy to use and accessible, and it has a real focus on helping staff to deliver person-centred care,” said Todd.

“It improves care outcomes and reduces risk because carers aren’t relying on paper-based notes or their memories at the end of a busy shift.”

Having the resident work logs easily available via the eCase app is a pivotal part of being able to document care in an accurate and timely way, commented Rebecca Hetherington, Care Services Administrator, St Andrews.

St Andrews work logs are generally initiated on admission and are based on the individual resident’s care needs and preferences. The work logs are fluid, meaning they can change as clinically indicated or required.

“All of a resident’s work logs are available to carers via the eCase app and a resident may have 15 to 20 work logs generated just for one shift,” she said.

In the hygiene chart carers can add details of individual resident preferences. For example, a resident might like to have a second daily shower in the morning before breakfast or may require assistance with their dentures.

Using the mobile app, all work logs are now completed at the point of care, which means staff are spending less time at the nurses’ station.

“I’ve had residents tell me that they see more of staff now, because the staff aren’t spending time in the office trying to document for an hour and a half, instead of being on the floor.”

Rebecca believes removing the double handling of the information is also saving staff time and improving accuracy.

“Instead of jotting notes down and then going back to the computer and typing it all in, we’re just doing it as we go in the eCase app – at the point of care, in real-time.”

Rebecca says that the mobile app also provides residents with improved privacy as information for each resident is now accessed and viewed within the app, instead of via paper-based charts.

Helping new staff get up to speed

An added benefit that St Andrews has found since implementing the eCase app is that it helps new staff to quickly recognise residents they’re yet to meet, again improving the connection between carer and resident.

“With the app, staff can immediately see a photo, their name and room number, which means they can easily find and provide care for residents, which really helps to streamline the whole onboarding process,” Rebecca said.

Overcoming resistance to change

The St Andrews team admit that switching to a real-time clinical care system has not been without its challenges, particularly with a workforce of higher average age and often with little experience in using technology.

CEO Todd Yourell says he tells staff the mobile app is there to make their day easier. “It’s literally just going into one of the items in a work log, clicking on it, and hitting the save button. That then time stamps that the work log’s been completed. It can be as simple as clicking on an icon or clicking to find out more information, so it’s not a complicated process,” he said.

Once staff have been trained in how the use the app, Rebecca says they can’t believe how easy it is. “They say why haven’t we been doing this before, it’s so quick and so much easier,” she said.