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February 14, 2020

Eden Brook Home Care: working alongside Birdie to build a better care solution

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Our partner agencies are an integral part of our business, and none more so than Eden Brook Home Care. We caught up with Debbie, the Care Manager, to talk to her all about how she and the team are getting on with Birdie, and the important work she’s being doing with us to help shape the future of the Birdie product.

Read on for the full interview...

How did you hear about Birdie?

I was called by Silje. She talked to us about our bugbears, which were MAR charts and it went from there. 

When did you make the decision to go digital? 

It was around September/October. We were having big problems with MAR charts so as soon as we found a solution, it went pretty quickly.

Is Birdie integrated with any other software in Eden Brook?

Currently we’re using People Planner, but at the end of march looking to move to Care Planner - which is super helpful as it integrates with Birdie. 

What was the process like, from signing the Birdie contract to getting up and running?

It was so straightforward. We spoke to Silje - my director and I were in agreement, then James came out and really, the whole process was so easy. 

How has eMAR helped your business?

The main thing is just how instant it is. If someone misses a medication, I can see it instantly. It’s also auditable which is perfect for CQC purposes.

I haven’t got a negative thing to say at all and I’m sure that Birdie will have a positive impact on the business, especially when it comes to MAR charts.

How do your staff feel about Birdie?

They love it. It's just so straightforward. We have some care staff that are a little bit older and they haven’t struggled with it at all. It all makes sense, it's all there in front of you, it's really self-explanatory.

Since using Birdie, what's the biggest thing that's changed/improved in your business?

We’re looking to go paperless completely. So that means that we’re currently in the process of reviewing all of our current care plans and rewriting them all on Birdie. We’re uploading every supporting document too, like all of their Waterlow scoring.

I can also send things instantly without having to go and collect sheets - it’s instant. And, when it comes to the CQC it’s about documenting that evidence. Sometimes I get alerts at 5 past one in the morning - and even though I might not respond right away, I can respond to 85% or 95% of these within 24 hours, and show the CQC that I have been responsive. Before it could have taken months to see a problem. I may have missed it. But now, it’s all in front of you.

Birdie's eMAR

What are your goals for your business? 

The absolute priority as a care manager is to get all the care plans reviewed and on to Birdie. I like the fact that it is instant and I can change it easily. With paper, I would have to rewrite an entire care plan and deliver it to the house, so the digital care plans are a big thing for me. 

How much money do you think Birdie is helping you save?

In the long run, I think Birdie will absolutely save us money. In terms of paper, mileage and all the driving to houses to drop off and collect MAR sheets. And carers also used to have to come in off their rounds to pick things up, now they don’t need to.


You've been helping us with our development of assessments and body maps etc - how did that come about?

My background is registered nursing, so I have a more clinical background. I was talking to James about features and mentioned my background, and he suggested that I speak with Jimmy about upcoming features that I could help with. 
I’ve been providing documents, and looking at designs with the team and it’s progressed from there really. In my opinion, the better care and documentation we can provide the better it is for everybody.


Why do you think it’s important that Birdie talks to care managers like you, out in the field?

There is such an array of information to look at - it’s useful to have a clinical background when it comes to things like assessments and speaking to care managers in the field helps to narrow down and find what’s really useful.


“The feedback from Debbie at Edenbrook has been invaluable. We always strive to work alongside our agencies where possible, and working together on our newest features like Body Maps and Digital Assessments has enabled us to start the process of building a truly useful feature that answers the needs of our customers. Debbie has been a great asset to the team in helping us shape the future of Birdie and we're excited to collaborate on even more projects in the future.”

Jimmy Hopton, Senior Product Designer at Birdie


How do you feel about being able to have a say in the Birdie development?

To have an impact on the relevance of something that won’t just impact our company but everyone else is great. It’s nice to be valued and help to streamline to make it easier for everyone.
It’s also helped me to think about things that I may not have thought about before. In going through, and validating other areas, it makes you consider other client priorities that I maybe need to look at. 


What would you say is the main advantage that Birdie has given you?

I would say the transparency. Everything is visible, you can’t ‘cheat it’. If something is amiss, within 5 minutes I'll be on the phone. And it’s all so auditable - there can't be mistakes because it’s all there. And you can act on things instantly.

I’m really pleased with it - it's been a real turning point for us. It’s giving us the ability to go forward. Not only does it make things easier, it highlights things we need to look at which is a massive benefit. I have absolutely no negative feedback at all about Birdie, it’s very straightforward and in the long run I think it will help us improve. 

We’re even writing Birdie into our policies and procedures, telling all new carers that they must log things correctly in Birdie. 


What advice would you give to those who haven't made the switch to digital?

I could honestly say from all points of view it’s beneficial. From a time point of view, from a care point of view, from a CQC point of view - I honestly can’t give you any negatives. 

It can be time consuming to upload care plans but it gives you the opportunity to review them. Updating and reviewing your care plans is a process you should be doing anyway, it’s just whether you review and update them and print them, or review and update them and put them on Birdie. 


And finally, what do you think the future of care looks like? 

It’s definitely going to be all digital - I don’t think there’s a place for paper. If you think about handwriting, can you always read it? Plus there’s data protection issues too. And digital saves time and money, and of course it helps the environment too. 



If you’re interested in using Birdie in your own agency, why not book a demo? We’ll walk you through everything Birdie has to offer and show you how going digital could transform your business. 



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