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What Is Linkedin?
Linkedin is a professional networking social media website. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, however, it's best used for professional contacts.
Think of it as your professional online home. It's a place to stay connected with former colleagues, tout recent certifications, and more.
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Once you've signed up for Linkedin, be sure to join fellow users
This group is restricted to current Generations users. If you have any issues joining the group, let us know at gensuccess@idb-sys.com
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The User's Group on Linkedin is a great place to network with other Generations users on best practices, tips, and advice about running a homecare agency.
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Know a co-worker who would enjoy GenSuccess? Forward this newsletter to them - and have them click here to sign up.
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Volume 1, Issue 1
January 2015
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WELCOME
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Thank you for joining us in the launch of GenSuccess - the monthly newsletter exclusively for users of Generations Homecare System. Each issue includes best practices, Q & A, success stories, information on new features, and more. If you know a co-worker who might enjoy GenSuccess, please forward this email and have them to click here to subscribe. We welcome and encourage your input. Please email us at gensuccess@idb-sys.com and let us know what you'd like to see covered in upcoming issues.
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WHAT'S YOUR BP?
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Best Practices for Client Supervisory Visits and Caregiver Supervised Visits


If you want or are required to make periodic visits to your clients, and want to also do quality assurance checkups with caregivers, there are two things in Generations that can help: Supervisory Visits and Supervised Visits. What are they and what's the BP for using them?
What is a Supervisory Visit?
Supervisory Visits are for clients. During a supervisory visit you might:
- assess the extent to which the client's goals are being met,
- determine if the current level of care is appropriate,
- review and evaluate the client's condition and needs according to the plan of care, and
- discuss and review with the client the services they are receiving.
With the Supervisory Visits in the client's file, you can: - Schedule upcoming supervisory visits.
- Document your last visit - you've got 6,000 characters, so you can be quite detailed.
- Indicate the frequency at which you'd like to schedule future supervisory visits using the timespan master list.
There is also a Supervisory Visits Due report to see documentation on both upcoming and completed visits. Real World Scenario Let's say you just brought a new client on board today, and their services begin tomorrow. You need to have a supervisory visit every thirty days. (Before you take these steps, make sure your timespan master list is set up; find that list under clients.) - Open the client's file and go to supervisory visits. Click new.
- Last visit completed is today.
- Select the timespan of thirty days.
- Enter documentation like "Initial assessment completed today - see POC. Will complete next supervisory visit in 30 days."
That's all it takes to get started with supervisory visits. Be sure to run the supervisory visit due report on a regular basis; we've even seen agencies be more proactive and create a reminder for the next visit! When you perform the next Supervisory Visit, open that previous visit and mark it as complete. Then click new and record the most recent visit, add your documentation, and indicate the timespan for the next supervisory visit. What is a Supervised Visit? In the caregiver's file, the Supervised Visits tab is for quality assurance. This is where you document: - Periodic supervision by an RN or case manager
- Drop-in or surprise visits at the client's home while the caregiver is providing service.
You can document date of visit, when the next visit is due, and notes regarding the visit. There is also a Supervised Visits report to see what visits are due; your HR person might use those during a caregiver review. What's Your BP? Now it's your turn. What's your best practice for Supervisory Visits or Supervised Visits? Any stories to share? What best practices would you like to see discussed? Send them to gensuccess@idb-sys.com
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WEBINARS ARE BACK!
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We are now offering live webinars each month on high-demand topics in Generations. Kicking off the webinars is a three-part series about bringing a client on board. Click the link below to join one webinar - or sign up for all three to turbo-charge your learning! Part II (Customizing The Care Plan) Wednesday, January 28 at 1pm EasternPart III (Tasks and Wellness) Thursday, January 29 at 1pm Eastern
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WHAT'S NEW WITH GENERATIONS?
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New Generations functions and features
Caregiver Search BetaOne of the many things we've heard you asking for is an enhanced Caregiver Search utility. We listened and recently released Caregiver Search Beta for you to explore which includes:
- Scheduling directly from search results,
- Viewing caregiver's current schedule and absences,
- Filtering search by partial availability, county, and more, and
- Customizing the columns in the display results.
To try out the new functions, click the Caregiver Search icon and then selecting Caregiver Search Beta (or the same thing from the Caregiver Search dropdown at the top of the screen.) You can still use the "old" Caregiver Search as well.
What do you think about Caregiver Search Beta? Let us know by sending your suggestions and feedback to our support team at support@idb-sys.com.
Telephony In Mobile Apps and Website
Another update that will impact your work is the ability to view telephony information in the office app. If you're looking at a schedule in the office app, you can see the login and logout time. Additionally, if you want to do a little more research on a particular call, the "Calls" information is now in the mobile app for office users. This is just like the telephony calls screen in Generations, and shows caller ID, calls that matched (or did not match,) GPS, and call duration.
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LET'S GET SOCIAL
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If you're like most of us, you're on several social media networks. Did you know that Generations is, too? We definitely are, and love interacting with you. Here's a breakdown of where we are on social media:
LinkedIn
On this professional network we have both a company page and a user's group. We keep any posts to LinkedIn professional, and you should, too.
Facebook
We have a company page on Facebook, and post updates every week day. The posts are usually more visual and so far have included tips, quotes, videos and testimonials. Like us on Facebook, and be sure you're getting our notifications.
Twitter
Twitter is a fast-moving, short-message social network for everybody. We post tips on Twitter plus interesting news items.
Tumblr
Our most recent social endeavor is on Tumblr - that hip, visually-oriented social network. We post one blog a week on Monday discussing Generations.
What social networks do you use? Is there a network you'd like to see us on? Send us any comments or requests to gensuccess@idb-sys.com.
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Where you ask the questions and we give you the answers
 No doubt you've had all sorts of questions about Generations from time to time. This is the place to get those questions answered. We'll start by answering two questions that came from our recent survey. After this issue though, it's all up to you - what are your questions? Question: What learning resources are there for Generations?
We were astonished to learn that many survey respondents didn't use any of the user documentation available in Generations. Answer: There are plenty of resources to help you learn about Generations. Here are the two easiest ways to increase your knowledge, and both are found in the upper right-hand corner of the home screen of Generations. - Read Help: Clicking on the big blue question mark on the home screen leads you into the Help system. This is a comprehensive reference for just about anything you've ever wanted to accomplish in Generations. On the left, click a word to dig deeper into a topic. For example, clicking on the word Clients reveals 20+ things associated with Clients for you to learn.
- Watch Videos: Right next to the big blue question mark is an icon to access the training videos. These are snack-size videos designed to help you learn little bits of Generations in a handful of minutes. Use the filter dropdown to explore a specific area or scroll to see all videos.
Question: There's a Generations app? What can it do? Answer: There's definitely an app, and it can be used by office staff, caregivers, clients - and family members or contacts of the clients. The app works on smartphones and tablets, and obeys the same security rules you have established in Company Settings. - Caregivers can look at their shifts, read a plan of care, view available shifts, add visit notes, record tasks performed, respond to wellness questions, read telephony messages, and (if their device has GPS) sign in and out of shifts using GPS.
- Clients and their family members or contacts can view schedules, read the plan of care, and read tasks. They can also tell when a caregiver logs in and out of a shift.
- Office staff has access to critical data at home, on vacation, at the grocery store, and more. With the app you've got both fast response and communication anywhere, anytime.
- For example, office staff can search for a caregiver, add notes, review a client's file, add or change a schedule, look up a referral source - and a whole lot more.
- The app is available now in the iTunes app store, Amazon Kindle store, and Google Play store. If you're not using one of these devices, there's also a mobile website with the same functionality described above.
- Not ready to download the app onto your device? Learn more in Help - just look for Mobile Website and Apps.
Have some questions you'd like us to address in the next issue? Let us know at gensuccess@idb-sys.com.
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NOW IT'S YOUR TURN
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- What kind of questions do you have for the Generations staff?
- How about questions for other users?
- Share a success story - and no success is too small to share!
Send questions, best practices, success stories and more to gensuccess@idb-sys.com
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