MAR vs EMAR: Is it Worth Going Digital?

 

If you are in the management of a nursing facility and want to improve the medication administration procedure a bit simpler? You work in a care facility, and you find it very hard to hold individuals accountable when errors occur. Is this something you experience? If you are struggling with any of the concerns listed above, you have come to the right spot. Like yourself, numerous care managers throughout the world have faced issues that are quite similar to yours. The use of eMAR, an electronic medication administration record system, simplified the process of drug administration. Continue reading to discover how eMAR can provide you with advantages over traditional MAR sheets.

First, it is necessary to learn both the Electronic Mar System and the MAR Sheets to grasp the subject matter fully.

What is a MAR Chart, and how does it work?

It is necessary to use MAR charts for only one reason: to ensure that the 6 R’s are followed. The proper medication, the proper resident, the proper dose, the proper route, the proper time, and the proper documentation. If you have all six in place, you may be confident that you are administering your prescriptions correctly and safely. It will, however, take some time to finish. When working in a busy care facility or nursing home, it may be tough to keep up with your MARs because of the many other daily tasks that may arise at the most inconvenient times.

What exactly is EMAR?

EMAR is an abbreviation for Electronic Medication Administration Records, intended to alleviate the stress experienced by nursing personnel and carers. Even if you have complete control over the drugs that the resident and the patients take, the EMAR medication monitoring software has suitable mechanisms built in so that you don’t have to worry about them yourself.

The EMAR addresses problems associated with MAR charts, such as illegible instructions contradicting data. So on, that might constitute a threat to people’s well-being and cause the regulator to take urgent actions to remedy the situation. Installation and service for EMAR in-home therapy are more seamless than other methods. Integrating the EMAR approach into an electronic care planning system is necessary. As a result, capturing prescription data and occurrences is necessary.

Exactly what are the benefits of utilising EMAR to support the welfare of your patients?

Minimization of Risks

The handling of medicines is a potentially hazardous occupation for your inhabitants. Unfortunately, this is simply the nature of the beast. There are multiple processes in the med pass approach that are vulnerable to injury, and these steps will continue to alter. On the other hand, the application of technologies will aid in the reduction of these dangers. Workflows incorporate into solutions such as EMAR by AL Cloud Care, which is both strong and impactful. The technology would make it impossible for you to make a mistake if you searched and entered data correctly. As we advise our customers, the software remains the same regardless of how the data is input; nonetheless, there is still the possibility of human mistakes.

As long as your data is correct, EMAR solutions will not enable you to handle excessive amounts of pharmaceuticals or prescribe pharmaceuticals at inopportune times unless there is a compelling need.

In addition, we have noticed a 30 percent reduction in the number of PRN visits for our consumers after implementing ACC Drug Monitoring. It reduces the likelihood of numerous pharmacy and prescription waste, ensuring that patients take their drugs as prescribed. Furthermore, the occurrence of missing signatures is no longer a problem. If medications are not administered appropriately, our system will nevertheless provide a warning.

Auditing

Now, I’m not suggesting that you’ll never have to perform a manual stock check in the future. Although they will not have to be done regularly if you utilise an eMAR solution or electronic mar software, they will be necessary. As I often say, the program is only as efficient and effective as possible that is placed into it; therefore, make sure you have accurate information.

As a result, if you ensure that medications are checked into the home appropriately and delivered correctly, your eMAR solution is working well. Even with this in mind, physical stock inspections are still helpful to verify that your team is following best practices. However, they can also perform more for audit purposes than for monthly orders. It is a time-saver!

Stock Monitoring and Control

EMAR solutions also make pharmaceutical audits considerably easier to conduct than previously. To save you the time and effort of combing through hundreds of pages of your residents’ monthly income reports, you may turn to one of the many reports available to identify and compile the information you need.

This is where you may realise the true value of data. Inspections by the CQC? You no longer have to be concerned about having everything ready- since you are always ready!

Employees will experience less stress.

Fear and worry in caregiving can be a concern since it can lead to reduced work satisfaction and decreased overall quality of care provided to people in the facility. Nurses can perform better if they are fresh and stress free. 

Alerts about drug interactions

Patients/residents’ bodies respond differently to medications when taken in combination with other medications. An eMAR software system may send nurses notifications when there is a medication interaction, preventing potentially hazardous combinations from developing in the first place.