This appeared a few days ago.
Healthcare tech is 'stuck in another generation', but a new system is improving time for aged care residents
By social affairs correspondent Norman Hermant
Posted May 8, 2021 at 5:57am, updated Yesterday at 5:28pm
Key points:
- Staff handovers in aged care homes can be time-consuming, and take up to 90 minutes
- But a trial of a new IT system has cut that down to as little as 10 minutes
- Experts say better technology is crucial for improving outcomes in aged care
It might not sound like much, but the trial — in the form of a new information technology ecosystem called ACE — is dramatically changing the way care is delivered.
And it all comes down to the most precious commodity: time.
"I can clearly see the staff members interacting more with the residents," Joana Fernando, a registered nurse and educator at Jindalee Aged Care in Narrabundah, said.
"Now they are more comfortable. Residents are able to have a chat with them."
Handover, the process when the staff on shift change, has traditionally been a huge consumer of time in aged care homes. Files for each resident, noting all the care provided each day, were paper-based and needed to be signed off by the head nurse at the end of each shift.
It was not uncommon for handover to take up to 90 minutes. But ACE, formally known as the "Aged Care Ecosystem", has changed that for the 250 staff at the facility.
It works via an app on smartphones or tablet, with each of the 170 residents having a profile, and information such as medications, personal care (like showering), and meal requirements all recorded in real time.
Almost all the information about resident care is already in the system and can be shared with staff coming on shift.
Handover times have shrunk to as little as 10 minutes, meaning staff can spend more time with residents.
Tech gives staff more time to spend with residents
Associate professor Kasia Bail from the University of Canberra led a team to evaluate ACE's performance.
Dr Bail's evaluation found it led to a 20 per cent increase in productivity, equivalent to an additional 96 minutes per staff member per full-time shift.
"What it's mainly done is improve the quality of information that [staff] can access, and the speed at which they can access it," she said.
When new staff members come on shift and check the ACE, they can see all the care and notes for each resident. They can go back up to two years to see a detailed care history.
Much more good news here:
While you want to see implementations in more than one site to be sure – this seems to be an astonishingly good use of Digital Health technology. It will be interesting to see how well this system is adopted and used over the next few years.
Looks to be a well conceived and implemented system.
You can read a lot more about the system and the developers here:
David.
1 comment:
There is always the question of scale - looking at the people behind it that should be viable. Local solution for a local challenge and seems to have made a difference. The key is not to over cook it - a very real risk with the well-intentioned response to the royal commission.
Thanks for posting David, balanced as always
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