PurposeCare of Illinois was founded 12 years ago by two people driven by their vision to provide excellent in-home care to the Joliet, Illinois, community. Today they employ a staff of more than 100, are licensed in 12 counties and have maintained four-star ratings on Care Compare in both patient experience and clinical quality. Their partnership with Axxess since 2017 has been pivotal to their success, helping them boost their quality measures rating to five stars in February 2024.
During the Axxess Growth, Innovation and Leadership Experience (AGILE), PurposeCare of Illinois received the Quality Standards of Excellence Award for their exceptional dedication to upholding the highest standards of quality care.
Axxess interviewed PurposeCare Agency Administrator Julia Lakomiak, RN, BSN, COS-C, to explore the strategies and tools behind this organization’s success. To read the full interview, click here.
Axxess Senior Vice President of Clinical Services Arlene Maxim, RN, HSC-C, weighed in on the processes she considers beneficial for other organizations to adopt:
Analyze clinical assessment data in real time.
PurposeCare leverages real-time data analysis to ensure operational adaptability, enabling them to implement changes immediately when issues are detected. Lakomiak praised the Axxess solutions for enhancing PurposeCare’s data analysis capabilities, noting the benefits of LUPA and pre-claim review monitoring, detailed reporting and interoperability add-ons that scrub data for accuracy, compliance and adherence to best practices.
“The primary lesson others can learn from this organization is just how critical real-time analysis of clinician assessment data is in ensuring high-quality care,” Maxim said. “PurposeCare’s significant increase in star ratings is a testament to the organization staying on top of staff performance and real-time analysis of data.”
Implement interoperable technology solutions that facilitate real-time data analysis and reduce documentation burden.
Lakomiak highlighted PurposeCare’s use of Axxess’ integrations with WorldView, which streamlines document management and physician order tracking, and Strategic Healthcare Programs (SHP), which provides access to real-time data that impacts quality outcomes and star ratings.
Maxim attested to the value interoperable technology solutions bring to healthcare organizations’ operations.
“Recognizing the value of technology integrations is a must,” Maxim said. “The high-quality organization understands the value that these integrations provide. Less sophisticated or less organized operations may not understand the benefits that integrations offer with regard to real-time data analysis, streamlining documentation processes and optimizing service delivery. Organizations looking to elevate their star ratings and maximize their reimbursement under value-based purchasing should identify their weaknesses and implement whatever technology solutions meet their specific operational demands. That can often mean leveraging integrations.”
Consider both patient and staff needs in decision-making.
Since inception, PurposeCare has prioritized the needs of both patients and clinicians, aiming to implement solutions that make clinicians’ jobs easier and enhance the patient experience.
“Putting patients and staff first in decision-making is so important,” Maxim said.
She encourages organizations to involve clinical staff in the selection of EMR and other technology solutions, ensuring their practical insights directly influence the tools they use daily.
“In my experience, nonclinician owners often do not have the same vision and mission as clinician owners do,” Maxim said. “It’s impressive that the ownership [at PurposeCare] recognized the value of clinician input when making decisions related to software choice.”
Choose technology partners that offer collaboration and support.
Lakomiak noted that working with a technology provider that delivers exceptional client support and a collaborative approach has significantly reduced the documentation workload for their clinical staff.
“Technology providers that offer initial and ongoing training coupled with exceptional client support and collaboration make a striking difference in a clinician’s ability to document with ease and accuracy,” Maxim said. “This support helps clinicians navigate the complexities of healthcare technology systems, ensuring they are used to their full potential. Empowering staff through a proper orientation and ongoing training leads to more efficient processes and better outcomes, which is what we’ve seen with PurposeCare. The right technology partner will help facilitate that.”
To read our full interview with PurposeCare of Illinois, click here.
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