Blue Tea’s solution, SmartNurse, is a custom software package, specifically crafted for domiciliary care firms. It’s a web-based platform designed for both efficiency and ease of use. Offered as a cloud service, customers have access to it through a license-based model. Furthermore, users can opt to integrate an Electronic Call Monitoring extension for real-time call tracking, if necessary.
SmartNurse is built around the concept of advanced, flexible and performance-oriented technologies. Its front-end architecture utilises the latest web standards and open-source components, with Ember.js as the central framework. Ember.js empowers the platform with solid performance, a rich web application development environment, and high interactivity. The design principles of SmartNurse aim for an offline-first approach, ensuring significant functionality even without an internet connection. Furthermore, it’s designed to cache data effectively, improving response times and enriching data interactivity. It’s also device-friendly, allowing easy optimisation for different platforms without the need to rewrite the entire application.
Back-end Technology
The server stack of SmartNurse employs Ruby, a powerful functional programming language for JVM. Ruby’s mature and expressive syntax, rich semantics and type safety align well with the robust, scalable and future-proof technology requirements of the platform. Adherence to REST standards ensures enhanced compatibility, while the use of a relational database guarantees data integrity. Real-time data updates and collaboration features are key components, ensuring all users always work with the latest data.
Work on the user interface elements for core business functionalities, such as managing Service Users, Carers, and Schedules, has been largely completed. The next stages involve incorporating Invoicing and Wages and eventually a comprehensive Dashboard page. In the back-end, the data store is implemented in Postgres. The next step is to expose this data as a REST API, using the JSON API standard that Ember Data supports, allowing for real-time data-push.
The development of SmartNurse’s features was driven by the practical business needs of a successful domiciliary care provider in Surrey area. The first version of this software has been tried and tested over several years, constantly updated to align with evolving business requirements, including the integration of an in-house call monitoring solution utilising NFC technology.
Roadmap
Finally, the Electronic Call Monitoring add-on includes an Android app that is already in use and has proven its reliability. Future enhancements to this app include wider compatibility, GPS tracking, an office communication mechanism, and improved carer schedule and service user information. The app currently manages the carers’ daily schedules and tracks visit attendance in real time. Blue Tea’s SmartNurse thus encapsulates a comprehensive solution for domiciliary care operations, offering an efficient and user-friendly service.
