Why Turnkey Installation is the Smart Choice

A turnkey is a type of computer software system built, supplied, installed, or designed to be sold to any customer as a completed solution. It's compared to build-to-order, where the provider customizes the solution to the buyer's exact specification or when an incomplete project is sold with the assumption that the buyer would complete it. In a nutshell, turnkey refers to a solution that's ready to use. It is a reference that the customer, upon receiving the product, only needs to turn it on to make it operational.

Turnkey solutions are reasonable when a business needs a ready-to-go solution that does not need customization. For many small businesses, this is often all they need. For example, turnkey solutions can match the needs of a company whose digital transformation plan revolves around upgrading its technology infrastructure. Instead of doing everything in-house – design, layouts, installation, support, and training – they let an expert company do it for them. This does two things:

 

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An example of a turnkey solution

 SeniorSense by Wytcote is an excellent example of a turnkey software program meant to address the daily needs of senior care homes efficiently. With such a technology, senior care facilities can address all the issues surrounding resident care, staff quality, compliance laws, and legal exposure. It allows these facilities to solve most of their problems in one place. When facilities implement the Wytcote turnkey solution, they can achieve the following in one place:

Things to consider before getting a turnkey solution

Before opting for a turnkey solution, you should:

Benefits of implementing a turnkey solution in your business

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Reduced implementation time

Turnkey solutions are ready-to-go full package solutions that are easily implemented or deployed in a business. Building proprietary computer programs can take a lot of time to complete successfully. Turnkey solutions help you bypass many of such issues. That’s because the implementation time is faster. Besides, the best providers will offer an effective training program to demonstrate how the software will enhance the business operations.

Higher savings

Project fragmentation not only wastes time but money as well. Using senior care homes as an example, a company specializing in fall prevention technology will charge full price for their service. So will a company that does the tracking.

A full-service turnkey software developer will save you money in such aspects. Additionally, since all solutions are handled by one company, you benefit from quicker lead times, discounts, upgrades, and the fact that the invoice is coming from a single company instead of several.

Besides, turnkey solutions are generally more affordable because the development cost is often distributed across several clients. The economies of scale tip the balance in favor of the end-user, providing great value at a low cost.

Consistency in the quality level

You're likely to get consistency in the quality level of your solutions if you're working with one provider than when you fragment solutions. That's because processes, quality assurance, expertise, experience, and infrastructure vary from company to company.

A turnkey provider can set the level of quality needed for your project and guarantee that all their teams will provide the same level of quality. They are often held to a higher degree of accountability because they're fully responsible for any problem that may arise. Moreover, turnkey providers often provide end-to-end service and support to guarantee a smoother process throughout the project's lifetime.

Know what you are getting

Turnkey solutions are tried and tested options that let you know precisely what you are getting. Unlike a custom made solution that’s specifically crafted for a company, turnkey is often designed to cater to a wider scope of clients. This means that it’s easy to seek other people’s opinion regarding the effectiveness of the solution. There are also plenty of reviews and case studies for the solution, which give you a glimpse of what you’re getting.

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You don't have to worry about support.

Technology is complex. When you're using different service providers for different applications, and a hitch happens along the way, who will you call? Even when you know who to call, it's likely the providers will point fingers, and you'll end up wasting lots of time and effort trying to get to the bottom of it.

Turnkey services consolidate all the parts into one solution. In case there's an issue, you have one throat to choke. Think of turnkey as a way to ensure your peace of mind.

High consistency in quality level

Turnkey providers always ensure every moving part in their solution fits and compliments the other for a seamless experience. When you use a turnkey solution from a reputable vendor, you don't have to struggle with merging different parts.

That's because everything is already done for you, and all you're left to do is implement it in your business. Turnkey solutions are easy to install; you need no prior knowledge. To make sure things are easy, we train you.

Easy integration with other technologies

As your company grows, you may need to integrate different solutions into your turnkey computer systems for better service deliverability and workflow. Quality turnkey solutions can allow for a quick and easy integration with other commercial software. This is a great benefit, considering technology keeps shifting from time to time. With turnkey solutions, you never have to worry about being left behind.

Best Accreditations for Senior & Assisted Living

Long term care facilities offer a range of services to those who aren’t able to live independently. Mostly, these are people aged 65+. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 to 3 million serious infections occur every year in nursing homes, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. That’s why the importance of working with an accredited facility can never be overstated. So what is accreditation, and what are the best accreditations for senior and assisted living facilities to obtain?

Accreditation helps determine if a senior living home meets or exceeds minimum quality standards. When a facility is accredited by a reputable organization, you can rest easy knowing your loved one will be safe and well-cared for. Without such systems in place, it would be impossible to tell the excellent facilities apart from the average ones.

Many accreditation bodies exist in the United States. But as with any other system, these bodies are not created equally. Some are certainly better than others. When it comes to your loved one’s level of care and safety, it’s always a good idea to go with the best. It is hard to imagine your loved one going into an understaffed, or outdated facility that didn’t offer high-quality senior care. This article will highlight the best accreditations for senior and assisted living facilities to guide you. But before that, let’s make sure we’re on the same page.

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Knowing the best accreditations for senior care and assisted living facilities can help your business stand-out, as one of the best in your field.

Senior living licensure vs. accreditation

Senior care providers may get three recognition levels: certification, licensure, and accreditation. Licensure is a type of recognition used in most government systems. It has set rules and directs providers to abide by specific local codes. Providers need to have a license before they can operate. But they must pass some basic licensure test that covers the regulations and rules for operation to get their license. The test also includes an inspection of the facility.

Certification recognizes personal achievements. It’s a proof that a person has attained certain education level or skill set by an institution. Certificates are given to those who successfully finish a specific training or work experience. It shows that the experts can offer nursing care or medical care to older adults.

On top of meeting all the certification and licensure requirements, some providers may voluntarily choose to go through the accreditation process. The main difference between licensure, certification and accreditation is that accreditation is given only after a provider is shown to conform to a set of specific standards. Certification and licensure are, however, needed upfront before services can be performed. Accreditation helps establish whether the provider’s processes produce positive results.

The conformance to standards is typically measured by a third-party body that goes to the senior living facility to review materials and talk to family members, nursing home residents, administration boards, and the staff members. So, accreditation is the recognition by experts that a senior living home meets the highest industry standards.

With that out of the way, here are some of the best accreditation for senior and assisted living.

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Accreditation Commission for Home Care, INC. (ACHC)

ACHC is a nonprofit accreditation body that has stood as a quality and excellence symbol for over three decades. The organization has CMS approval for hospice, home health, renal dialysis, and DMEPOS accreditation. Over the years, ACHC has created the best accreditations for senior and assisted living facilities, that have positively impacted countless organizations. Its standards are built by experts and promote quality services, enhance organizational operations and ensure optimal care. ACHC:

Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) Accreditation

CARF is a nonprofit that sets very high standards for care and service. It is a well-known independent accreditation body for human and health care services providers across the United States and Western Europe. CARF accredits continuing care retirement communities and related services that offer hospital, community, and home-based care. The accreditation process starts with a range of steps that include:

CARF has one of the most stringent peer-review processes, making it an admirable accreditation for senior and assisted living facilities. In fact, its standards were set over five decades ago by global partners of policymakers, service providers, and family members. These standards have been subjected to public review to verify the applicability and ensure all stakeholders contribute.

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (JCAHO)

JCAHO is an independent, nonprofit body that accredits skilled nursing facilities and some continuing care retirement communities. But it does assess assisted living homes. The nonprofit tries to consistently enhance care homes by:

JCAHO is a respected body in the health care industry. It has a reputation for its high standards in grading long-term care facilities, hospitals, and service providers.

Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP)

CHAP standards are specific to the community and home-based care. They offer a practical, straightforward guide as per the facility’s specific model. The organization has deeming authority issued by the CMS to determine whether it meets their quality standards and Medicare Conditions of Participation. CHAP:

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Benefits of accreditation

Long-term care facilities use accreditation to improve their performance and display their commitment to safety and quality to external stakeholders. The latest studies show that long-term care accreditation is a risk reduction activity that minimizes the chances of adverse resident outcomes and incrementally enhances a facility’s performance. Besides, accreditation improves community confidence, supports staff education and recruitment, and offers a structure for organizing business and care processes. But most importantly, it enables facilities to set themselves apart in the market of more than different 15,000 nursing homes in the US.

 

6 Products To Get You Through COVID Liability

Businesses worldwide face challenges, including lawsuits, as they struggle with the way that the novel Coronavirus has disrupted their operations, supply chains, and workforces. The litigation wave is gaining momentum, and from the look of it, no industry is immune. With that in mind, we will examine some products to get you through COVID liability concerns in this article.

Employers across the country are facing lawsuits by Coronavirus victim and their families. These victims and their loved ones contend that workplaces failed to implement measures to ensure safety on the job. Meat processing plants, nursing homes, and cruise ship operators have been sued the most during the crisis. Other companies like Amazon, McDonalds, Safeway, and Walmart have also faced charges alleging they did not do enough to protect employees.

Of course, most employers argue that they have enforced all the recommended guidelines to ensure workplace safety. They have attempted to educate and promote good hygiene and infection control practices to prevent exposure on the job. Some even remark that it’s impossible to know where or how their staff contracted the virus, considering it is in the community.

But still, COVID-19 lawsuits are ripe, and employers ought to be careful. The last thing that one wants to deal with, on top of the thinning profit margins, is costly legal fees, among other expenses that a lawsuit attracts. Indeed, COVID-19 suits may not form the basis of personal injury cases. After all, the victim may not prove that the employer passed the infection to them. With the virus widespread in so many communities and easily transmitted, this level of proof is nearly impossible.

However, this doesn’t mean that employers won’t face the consequences if they act negligently or recklessly during the ongoing public health crisis. Bad choices during these times of declared emergencies can expose them to legal problems. To minimize the pandemic's impact on workers, businesses, customers, and the public, employers need to plan adequately and integrate effective products, some of which we will discuss in this article. Before we do that, let’s ensure that we are on the same page regarding COVID-19 in workplaces.

Workplace Coronavirus exposure

The COVID-19 virus is a respiratory illness that’s easily passed from person to person. The virus has spread quickly across the US, with 10.4 million cases and 244,044 deaths reported by November 9, 2020. Although many people have lost their jobs, some are left with no choice but to work amidst workplace COVID-19 exposure fears. Employees deserve protection from the virus at work. Employers are required to take measures to protect staff from potential exposures.

With that in mind, let’s now look at how you can protect your employees. We’ll do this by listing 6 products to get you through COVID liability.

1. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

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PPE supplies are critical for preventing specific COVID-19 exposure – mainly when used alongside other prevention strategies that we’ll discuss in this article. Examples of PPE supplies are face shields, goggles, face masks, gloves, and respiratory protection. Recommendations for PPE specific to job or occupation may change based on current risk assessment for employees, geographical location, and information on its effectiveness in preventing the virus's spread.

As an employer, you should keep checking the CDC and OSHA websites for the latest recommendations of PPEs. In a nutshell, PPE supplies should be:

2. Disinfecting tunnels

wytcote disinfectant portal
wytcote disinfectant portal

Disinfecting tunnels (or sanitizing tunnels) are placed at the entrances and exits of commercial buildings to fog/spray sanitizer or disinfectant onto those entering or leaving the building. So, someone goes through a semi-enclosed area, pauses for several seconds for disinfection before entering the building.

The reasoning behind disinfecting tunnels is that, since the Coronavirus is a contagious illness, disinfecting a person’s clothes and body can protect them from contracting the virus. Spraying helps contain the pathogen’s spread.

There are many concerns about the effectiveness and safety of these tunnels. A WHO report even warned against their use because of the chemical disinfectants used. According to the report, spraying people with chlorine and other dangerous chemicals could lead to skin and eye irritation. Luckily, not all disinfecting tunnels are created equally. Some use a specially formulated solution that sanitizes individuals without affecting their physical or physiological health.

3. Sanitizing lighting

Sanitizing lighting is a great product that can help save you from potential COVID liability. It uses nanometer light to deactivate and destroy bacteria and other micro-organisms. The UVC lights (or LED in some cases) excites certain molecules in disease-causing micro-organism through photo-activation. This produces reactive oxygen species that destroy and kill the harmful cells.

UVC, a type of Ultraviolet light, is effective at killing viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2. A study by the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) revealed that exposure to UVC light completely inactivated the Coronavirus in nine minutes.

4. COVID test kits 

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The COVID test kits allow you to perform routine internal Coronavirus testing. This means that your employees won’t have to go to the hospital to get their tests done. Having test kits handy can ensure that any case is discovered on time, thus avoiding further spread. This is especially critical during an emergency.

The good thing about COVID-19 test kits is that they are first, accurate, and convenient. You only need to be careful to find a trusted dealer – one who’s kits have Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), been independently validated, and with specificity and sensitivity of at least 95%.

5. Check-in kiosk

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wytcote kiosk

check-in kiosk is a fully automated hands-free self-check kiosk designed to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. For instance, in an airport or booking office situation, the booth allows people to scan and print their tags without touching anything other than their phones. A self-service kiosk in any environment can minimize in-person interaction, lowering the risk of transmission of virus between employees and guests or patients.

Before the pandemic, clients would walk right to the reception or front desk. But this is considered a risky practice now. A check-in kiosk minimizes the risk by negating the person-to-person interaction. When a client walks in, their first stop becomes the kiosk. They can then scan their ID or insurance card or even update information like email, phone number, and address at the booth.

Installing a check-in kiosk is a great way to show your team and other related parties that you have strengthened your hygiene protocol. These kiosks also allow you to monitor everyone who enters the facility and ensure that the workplace remains COVID-19 free.

6. Wellness kits

Wellness kits provide your employees with items for well-being. The kits include hand sanitizer, face coverings, stress ball, sleep kit, and more. Note that these items may vary depending on where you got your kits from.