Webwatch: Cordia rolls out ‘careSafe’ mobile app to support its home care workforce

Home care provider Cordia has developed a new App to support its home care employees in their roles when visiting elderly and vulnerable residents in Glasgow.

The careSafe mobile app, which is being used by over 2,000 home carers in the city helps with scheduling, allowing users to ‘check-in’ and ‘check-out’ of homes. A coordinator, based in a central hub, monitors a dashboard of all visits in their area, quickly identifying if any visits have been delayed or missed.

Home carers are able to telephone in advance if they are running late, while coordinators can ensure visits have been made to each service user on their rota, in real-time.

There is built-in GPS functionality allowing home care teams to work out how long it will take colleagues to travel to their next visit, relaying the information to service users if they contact Cordia’s headquarters.

Each employee has been issued an iPhone enabling them to use Google Maps if they are unsure where a new client lives or if they are working in a different area of the city. The fully encrypted device also includes a secure space for home care employees to store pass-code information to access service user’s homes.

The main objective of the system is to reduce missed visits to service users. It also helps guarantee employee safety and increases route and scheduling efficiency of the overall workforce.

Frances McMeeking, Cordia’s Cordia Head of Operations (Care Services) said: “The new careSafe app has been hugely beneficial to the overall service we provide, helping us to deliver a consistently high standard of home care to service users across Glasgow.

“It will reduce instances of missed appointments, offer navigational help for the team and provide an added level of comfort to both our service users and employees.

“A team of coordinators can now monitor visits in real-time; quickly checking in with individual members of staff if a visit isn’t made. Equally, our home carers can also phone ahead to say they’ve been subject to a delay, which is something we know service users appreciate.

“As we roll out iPhones to our 2500 team we’re confident of the efficiencies this will bring to the operation.”

The app, which was developed in-house by Cordia’s ICT team, has taken a novel approach to providing a technological aid to frontline workers.

Brendan Murphy, Cordia’s head of ICT and marketing said: “Our ICT team spent three months alongside home care employees, working with them to shape the app development to meet their requirements.

“This embedded approach is extremely effective when developing technology for frontline workers. We were able to complete a process to find out what type of functionality would help their daily routine and specifically tailor the design around this.

“The end result is an effective and user-friendly piece of tech which will produce major benefits for our home care operation.”

App In Action

Home Carer Moira Duffy has been with Cordia for 30 years. As part of the pilot scheme for careSafe, Moira is a big fan of the latest technology helping assist her day-to-day duties.

Putting a strong emphasis of the ease of careSafe, it allows her to access real-time information on all her service user’s notes and details. Coming in particularly handy when service users have switched medication, allowing other carers who may be visiting to know.

It cuts down on employees using their own phones for getting in touch with Home Care Co-ordinators or service users. The secure device uses fingerprint recognition and is a lot more reliable than using paper.

The team of 30 members, have all been in favour of the app although some people were slightly apprehensive to begin with, with the right training it has made their jobs a lot easier.

If employees are having difficulties with the phone or app they can be referred to Access, a team who deal with any breakdowns or malfunctions, working with the carers to resolve the issue right away so they can get back to their rota.