Although we all know that interruptions come with the territory in a fast-paced home care office, when your team consistently has more work at the end of the day than when they started it, it's critical that you find ways to alleviate this stress.
Let's take a look at one of the biggest culprits for office staff time: answering non-emergent phone calls from family members.
Companies who pride themselves on their responsiveness know that these non-emergent phone calls from families are one of the biggest challenges to manage as their business grows. And during the pandemic, families are picking up the phone to check in more frequently than ever.
Although family members may say that they "just have a few quick questions", what they are really looking for is reassurance that mom is doing okay.
If you are thinking that the solution is to hire more people for your office, I'm here to tell you that there are some simple things you can do to fine tune your operations before you take that big and costly step.
The critical shift: move family communications upstream
The first thing you need to do is change where and how this type of communication occurs between family members and your team. Shift the ownership of communication to the source, the caregiver, and remove the middle man - the office.
Give your caregivers the ability and support to share regular wellness updates on a secure platform that your client, families, and office staff can access.
Your communications to families have now shifted from "reactive" to "proactive" and this alone will result in an immediate reduction in calls from family members and free up time for your office staff.
“Since SparxConnect has been implemented, we have seen a decrease in non-emergent family phone calls by more than 30%. ”
- Program Coordinator at Long-Term Care
Take it one step further: make the updates meaningful
The difference between sharing a wellness update and sharing a meaningful update, can result in a more than 30% reduction in non-emergent family calls and benefits that extend beyond time savings.
If the communication is just an update on tasks completed and a short text to confirm mom is okay, a family member may be satisfied, but the office will not likely see a significant reduction in calls.
Provide your caregivers with a solution that enables the sharing of meaningful messages and content that includes a photo, video, audio, and more. Make it not only accessible to families, but allow them to respond with likes and comments.
When a family member sees a photo showing their dad having fun playing cards, or mom waving hello on video, the result goes beyond satisfaction to delight. And these feelings not only translate to less calls, but how they rate and refer your organization in the future.
And when a family member likes or comments on the update shared, the caregiver is recognized for their great work and they also feel delighted. These feelings translate to how they rate their job and loyalty to your company.
Start saving time with SparxConnect
SparxConnect is specifically designed to delight and provide ongoing peace of mind to families while increasing efficiency for home and residential care teams. You can begin the shift towards proactive family communications with the SparxConnect Day feature. Caregivers can easily share photos, videos, and meaningful updates of clients, letting family members know that today was a good day and reduce the need for non-emergent calls to the office.
Ready to reduce calls and free up time for your team?