Care homes looking to digitise their administration and care procedures have a new option with the launch of Epic Care in the UK.
Epic Care is a modular, scalable system developed by Clanwilliam that has a track record of simplifying the delivery of complex care at both residential and nursing homes across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The company is bringing the system to the UK as the Darzi Review calls for a “tilt towards technology” to improve productivity and outcomes in health and social care.
Epic Care offers care homes that need to move away from paper or first-generation systems a cloud-based alternative that can be used to record daily operations from anywhere with an internet connection, while making the most of touch-screen technology.
Shane Williamson, business development manager for Epic Care, said: “The new government is committed to putting the NHS at the forefront of the technological revolution that has reshaped so many aspects of our lives, and we want to make sure that care homes are in the vanguard of that change.
“Epic Care is a modern system designed to save administrators time, to make it easy for nurses and care assistants to follow and document best practice, and to improve communication across the system.
“Because it is cloud-based, we can wrap set-up, support, updates and upgrades into our pricing to reduce the total cost of ownership.
“It all frees up time and resources to enable care homes to focus on what they do best – which is care for their residents.”
Epic Care is built around an ‘admin and care’ module, with the core capabilities required to run a care home.
It records information about residents, logs their nursing care, supports risk management, and generates reports for regulatory compliance.
A touchCare module enables care staff to record daily resident activity at the touch of a button, using devices that can be placed where they are needed, in rooms and at the bedside.
Further modules include: EpicQ, which holds policies and documents staff compliance with them, an eLearning Hub of training videos, and Medications, which simplifies the task of ordering, reporting and reviewing medications.
Christine Thompson is regional manager of Macklin Care Homes, which runs six homes with nine sites and 412 residents in Northern Ireland.
She has been supporting the development of Epic Care for almost two decades, and says the system is: “All about saving time and effort, while improving visibility.”
“Epic Care handles administration and documents care, but for me, it is all about governance,” she says.
“Every touch point of care is recorded, so I can go online and look at our dashboards to see what is happening.
“For example, each of our residents can have ten to 12 care plans, and regulators would often say they were not up to date.
“But now I can see on a dashboard which care plans need updating – and send a message to staff to get it done.
“At the same time, touchCare picks up every interaction with the care staff: food, drink, body care, toileting…
“So, if I went to check how much fluid somebody has received, I can just look on the dashboard and it will tell me. I can see everything at the touch of a button.”
One of the barriers to the roll-out of technology to the social care sector has been funding; with smaller care homes worried about the cost of installing and maintaining IT amid local authority cuts and rising inflation.
However, the introduction of an effective system, such as Epic Care, can eliminate many of the costs associated with paper forms, photocopying, and postage, while streamline time-consuming activities, such as booking in new residents, stocktaking drugs, and providing evidence for regulators.
Christine added: “When you think of all the occasions on which someone has to find a form, and fill it in, and stand by the photocopier, and put it in an envelope, and that person is likely to be a nurse, you realise just how expensive paper is.
“Even when you don’t cut costs, you release time, which nurses and staff can use to care for people.”
Eileen Byrne, managing director of Clanwilliam commented: “Showcasing our ongoing commitment to bringing our existing, successful healthtech innovations to new markets, we are excited to bring Epic Care to the UK.
“With Epic Care, care homes can benefit from a proven, scalable solution that enhances care quality while simplifying day to day operations.”
Care homes interested in Epic Care will have the chance to see the system at the Care Show at the NEC in Birmingham on 9 and 10 October.
The theme of the show is ‘building better care for the future’ and Clanwilliam will be demonstrating how modern systems like Epic Care can contribute to this goal.