Health and Disability

Caregivers were required to clock-in and clock-out of a web-based software platform by ClearCare that operates for visit scheduling, integrated telephony for point-of-care reporting, two-way caregiver messaging and other managerial functions. The check-in moments, which were designated at the beginning and end of a shift for payroll purposes also included a checklist about their patients.

The checklist was administered when caregivers clocked out telephonically, which required them to answer a number of questions devised by the study authors, ClearCare and RAH in 2014. The checklist asked a number of questions, such as, ”Does the client seem different than usual? Has there been a change in mobility, eating or drinking, toileting, skin condition or increase in swelling?”

If a caregiver notes any changes in condition, they receive additional questions before receiving a task on the system dashboard of the office’s care manager. The care manager can use that task, along with more information from the caregiver, to determine potential actions for the patient.

“Most interviewees suggested that changes in condition would not have been reported without the in-home checklist,” the study reads. “They also reported relatively few ‘false positives’ in that they felt that most of the tasks warranted attention.”