How technology offers the boost that care providers need

Care organisations across the UK are working hard to address specific industry challenges – on top of the usual struggles faced with balancing funding, staff shortages and changing care needs.

It’s crucial for the care sector to keep on top of financial issues to ensure ongoing stability and continuity of care. But what many finance professionals in the care sector have not yet experienced is the uplift in efficiency, productivity and positivity that can be gained from using the latest technology.

Now that the cost of cloud based solutions has reached far more affordable levels – and can reduce costs in a number of areas – it’s the perfect time to look at reaping the benefits for your organisation using more up-to-date software.

Get your questions answered via financial modelling

Although care providers usually receive funding from local authorities as well as payment from service users or their families, fluctuations in income streams are still common; even seemingly small changes in funding rules or inheritance tax for example can have a big impact on revenue. And of course the additional costs for PPE and cleaning as a result of the pandemic was an unexpected challenge.

Financial modelling is the key to planning ahead and finding answers to the financial questions that occur when change happens. By running experiments that explore what effect different situations and funding permutations could have, you’ll quickly uncover actionable insights which can be incorporated into a strategic plan.

This can be used to defend against fluctuations in revenue further down the line. Modelling can be used for other questions, too, such as whether or not it would be financially viable to acquire another care home franchise, or whether an extension to an existing property would pay for itself in a reasonable timeframe.

Build staff confidence and loyalty

It is understandably demotivating for your staff if their payments are incorrect or late. But it is also understandable that mistakes will happen when finance are working with outdated or manual systems that make it hard to cope with fluctuating hours and working patterns, as well as temporary staff potentially working more than one job. There are a seemingly endless amount of variables to consider in order to get it right.

An efficient finance and payroll software package specifically designed for care providers makes a world of difference. By keeping an eye on everything from staff hours and turnover to the costs of paying pension and National Insurance contributions, you’ll be able to ensure that nothing slips through the cracks and causes black holes in the payroll.

Tools such as on-demand pay are proving extremely popular with care staff too. This is a simple app that allows employees to withdraw the salary they have already earned early in the month – a good perk for Shift based care workers, and a proven way of helping to fill more vacant shifts.

Taken together this equals far fewer mistakes and happier care workers.

Keep the board and stakeholders updated on your organisation’s financial health

Proper reporting and analysis is important all of the time – but even more so right now when the economic environment is unstable and when healthcare concerns are heightened.

Whether you want a financial overview of one care or health organisation or a consolidated view across multiple sites, the right software can quickly pull the necessary data together and deliver the big picture. This puts you and your management team in a better position to make faster and more confident decisions, and identify new ways to improve the business and service quality.

Compliance is so much easier too because a robust finance management system makes sure there is an audit trail for every transaction. Most importantly, a good system provides access to real time data plus alerts when issues arise – which maximises the amount of time available to deal with issues before they become more serious problems.

It’s a win-win for all parties.