Running a care home is challenging at the best of times, but with the pandemic now being followed by the prospect of a recession coupled with skyrocketing running costs, the current environment is more challenging than ever.
Given this, care home managers need to be doing all they can to make their margins count. A key part of this is occupancy management, and – more specifically – efficient occupancy management.
Occupancy management is essentially the lifeblood of a well-run home – providing the means for capital expenditure, staff wages and more. With a cost-of-living crisis, staff will be pushing for wage increases to help cope with the added expenses at home, something which only adds to the pressures care homes are under. And, with the pandemic still rumbling on and the risk of Covid infections still an issue, several unexpected room vacancies over a short period can have a huge impact on a care home’s successful operation.
With all of this in mind, it’s essential that occupancy management is given the attention it deserves.
This attention starts right from the first contact with a prospective resident and their family. When relatives take it upon themselves to call a home on behalf of a family member, often, for them, it can be one of the toughest calls they ever have to make. Recognising that full-time care is appropriate for a loved one is an emotional time, and it’s important their enquiry is handled appropriately from the outset. A poor experience at this stage can be enormously affecting, influencing how they view not just your home, but the whole experience of placing someone into care. This process needs to be smooth, sensitive and supportive – something that’s easier said than done with overstretched staff.
Logging a prospective resident’s journey and their relatives’ contact with you is crucial if you’re to present a good impression of your home that’s convincing enough to make them choose you as their care provider. And it’s not merely the fact of when they’ve contacted the home, you need to make sure that all of the relevant details are captured and that they’re then easily accessible for other staff to view. Continuity of service despite rotating shifts is important. I’m sure you’ve experienced frustrations in other environments where you’re having to resubmit the same information but to a different staff member. This is doubly frustrating when you factor in the emotional element of a care home enquiry.
Using a system that provides this for you then offers an enormous benefit. Aside from the initial data capture, a system that facilitates reminders and follow-ups that are allocated out to staff, helps to ensure they have more time to spend speaking to prospective residents in a caring and supportive manner rather than wading through forms and paper, while also impressing the prospect that you’re efficient and well-run.
It’s not just enquiries from prospective new residents that you need to keep an eye on though; you need to know who’s presently living in your home and their circumstances.
Of course, the basics of this centre on the provision of good care; you need to know who is there if you’re to organise correct levels of staffing and appropriate care for their specific needs. But from an occupancy perspective, being able to quickly analyse your home’s mix of permanency, dependency and funding types allows you to plan effectively – so it’s imperative you keep on top of it. It enables you to cater for eventualities and manage your business well.
Again though, ensuring your enquiry and patient information is up to date and comprehensive is one thing, but you need to have appropriate eyes on it to recognise and react to what that data is displaying. Filing something away and then forgetting about it just doesn’t work in an ever-changing care environment. You need to make sure the right information is there, but you then need to assess and analyse it to correctly interpret what it says. Reporting on prospective issues to those who are well placed enough to rectify any problems or gaps is essential. Again, there are systems out there that do this – providing you with a holistic view of what’s going on to help you act as needed.
Reporting in and of itself, of course, doesn’t create a desirable place for residents to live. The care being provided has to be right. No amount of management reporting will create a care home that residents enjoy living in, nor a thriving workplace for staff. Occupancy is, however, a useful indicator of where you need to focus your attention. In fact, it’s probably the best indicator in determining why a particular care home isn’t getting many enquiries. It also helps you understand why a lot of discharges and moving to other care facilities could be happening, and perhaps even better, why particular homes are always full and have a waiting list that keeps residents for over two years on average.
The best way of doing all of the things I’ve mentioned, while alleviating pressures on staff, is to turn to the appropriate technology.
Here at CoolCare, we’ve developed the technology to do just that, focusing on a user experience that makes it as easy and as time efficient as possible for staff to log all of the relevant details and subsequently access it when needed; whether that be care resident records, new enquiries or reporting. In addition, it has a 24/7 collaborative work tool that allows tasks to be allocated to individuals or shared digitally. Another innovative feature the technology can provide, is the ability for staff to allocate tasks to other staff members that then appear on their ‘to-do-lists’ – and are time sorted and colour coded accordingly. The technology can also be integrated with hand-held devices such as mobile phones to keep care staff updated in real time. Joined up thinking provides joined up results and a seamless experience for prospective residents and their relatives is an essential component of creating a good impression that will ultimately lead to a conversion. Efficient occupancy management plays a crucial part in that.
Given the challenges of the last few years and the challenges ahead, care homes should be grateful for every lead, and every lead should be treated with the significance it deserves if it’s to be converted accordingly. With huge pressures on staffing, turning to effective technological solutions that help support teams is more critical than ever.
About the author
Fiona Hale, is the Managing Director of CoolCare, an intuitive care home management software that helps manage care homes easily and efficiently from anywhere in the world.
CoolCare has first-hand experience in care home management, having built and operated care homes for decades. Its key software, CoolCare4, is designed from a position of understanding. Thanks to its intuitive and user-friendly system, it’s quick and accessible from any device with an internet connection, while, importantly, the software ensures users get full and accurate data to help improve business operations.
