There was a moment in the height of the pandemic when it was clear Regal Home Health’s new technology system had improved more than its rostering efficiency – it was driving outstanding customer service.
Earlier this year, large numbers of its team were in isolation because of COVID, with up to 25% of the workforce isolating in one day alone.
Despite high levels of absenteeism, the Sydney-based provider continued to care for its customers by meeting 97% of home visits.
CEO Michael Hall said this achievement was largely possible because of Regal’s new technology-based scheduling system.
A core component of this integrated system is Skedulo: an intelligent scheduling tool that makes it easy to organise and oversee an entire deskless workforce on a single platform – especially nurses and support workers on the field.
Regal Home Health started partnering with Skedulo in 2018, as its digital transformation journey was beginning.
The company was growing rapidly and needed to change its paper-based rostering system to a more agile digital solution. Regal Home Health set up Skedulo as part of a complete system overhaul.
“When your number of visitors is going from 5,000 a month to 20,000 a month, the operational side of the business becomes far more critical,” explained Mr Hall.
“How do you get the right person with the right skills, to the right person at the right time? It’s not an easy task, and that’s why we needed Skedulo.”
Skedulo didn’t just create efficiencies in Regal’s operations; it also helped the provider fulfil one of its key aims: to provide better quality of care for customers. David Thompson, Operations Manager at Regal Home Health, said Skedulo enabled the business to build its rostering system around the customer’s requirements.
All the data is highly visible, making it easy to plan ahead, so no one falls through the gaps.
“We can drill down into different regions where we provide care. We know what days of the week are busier than others. I already know, over the next two months, that we’re going to need another 15 staff just for our existing customers who are booked in for jobs.”
Mr Hall said Skedulo has had a positive impact on Regal Home Health’s cashflow, enabling them to invest more in its service.
The business can now send an invoice as soon as a job is complete, reducing its gap between billing from four weeks to one.
“By having a very strong cashflow, we’re not constrained in the areas of expenditure that we want to do,” Mr Thompson added.
Skedulo has also helped Regal Home Health better empower and support its workforce, boosting employee satisfaction and retention.
The new system’s dashboard and reporting system means responsibilities that previously belonged to managers and executives can now be shared by different team members, giving staff more opportunities to show initiative.
“There’s different ways we can use the system to share the responsibility, so it just doesn’t go through one person,” said Mr Hall.
“That’s been a huge difference. It’s much easier to make decisions when you have the data.”
Support workers are also better supported in the field, as they can now send an alert if they notice a customer’s health is deteriorating.
“If a carer sees signs of deterioration, they can send an alert through the system, and we can have a nurse there that afternoon,” explained Mr Hall.
“That has reduced the pressure on them and increased their feelings of being supported, as the system has reduced the level of risk not only for our customers, but for our team members.”
By creating efficiencies and increasing visibility, Regal Home Health has seen benefits where it counts: customer care and employee satisfaction. As it moves towards being a more proactive business, Skedulo has supported Regal along the way.
“The Skedulo team understand our business,” said Mr Hall.
“They have the ability to come up with solutions for us – sometimes before we even need it. And that is a real positive.”
To find out more about Skedulo and how they help providers manage and schedule mobile workers more efficiently, visit their site or book a demo.
