The Lookout digital care management platform was the perfect choice for Russell Mason, General Manager of Hazel Home Care and Coastal Home Care. They serve HCP-funded and privately-funded clients on the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, and Southeast Melbourne, with plans to expand into other areas. "We operate a unique model of care in which all of our staff and care managers live locally to the customers we serve, and we aim to ensure that this is the case in every location we operate," Russell said.

The challenge

They were originally operating with a partially paper-based and partially electronic system that was relatively outdated. As their businesses rapidly grew, it became clear they needed a fully electronic system in order to efficiently keep up with their growth while maintaining quality service for their customers.

"We needed a solution suited to our unique model of care," Russell said.

With the industry undergoing rapid changes and reforms, they also required a partner - not just a software provider - that was responsive to their needs and quick to adapt to industry requirements.

"As an organisation looking to grow quite rapidly, we needed a really stable, strong system for our customer records. Those records needed to be really easy to read and understand for our care managers, but also need to be available to our new hubs as we grow into new locations," said Russell.

Lookout was chosen because it met the care needs of their business, was visually appealing, and had an easy-to-use customer app. "Also, the fact that the platform was constantly being developed to meet the needs of the market, and industry reforms, was very appealing" - said Russell.

The results

Not only has Lookout helped their businesses scale rapidly, it has also helped them reduce administrative costs and focus on providing exceptional home care.

"It is enabling us to grow much more quickly than we could have with the previous systems," said Russell.

"We've been able to reduce our administration costs and overheads, and we are able to quantify that. It’s enabled us to ensure that we can offer a really high-quality service to our customers whilst our administration overheads are at the very low end.”

“Lookout has proved to not just be 'another software provider', but a trusted partner to Coastal and Hazel Home Care's growth.”

Since implementing Lookout, the entire care team has found it easier to operate and business optics have improved. “It gives our directors and our staff total visibility over what's happening in the business on a day-to-day basis, but it also allows everybody to put notes in and to track what's going on, and be able to go back if anybody asks any questions and demonstrate what we have done along the way as well,” said Russell.

Having a client app has also been a big plus for their business. “A lot of our customers are not looking for anything that is overly difficult to use. So we've found that the take up of the app has been a lot better than we expected.”

Lookout has proved to not just be 'another software provider', but a trusted partner to Coastal and Hazel Home Care's growth. "I can honestly say that the support provided by the Lookout team is the best I have seen," said Russell. "Answering and responding to questions, issues and ideas, quickly!" "When you look across IT systems, you see systems that are purely a software solution, but Lookout has been designed by a care company which we think is a really big positive and bonus."

Armed with Lookout, Coastal and Hazel Home Care are positioned to grow. “Lookout is part of our current and future business growth, and that means we trust it as a software tool to ensure that when we move into new locations, we don't have to worry about our systems.… because there are lots of other concerns in setting up a new area," said Russell.

Words of advice

Russell offers this lasting advice to other providers:

“When you're looking at software to drive your business, you need to understand what you are looking for in that software. Understand your requirements and map them out. Then, look at the abilities that Lookout has. If it even hits 70, 80% of that, it's worth having a good look at Lookout.”