Quote Of The Year

Timeless Quotes - Sadly The Late Paul Shetler - "Its not Your Health Record it's a Government Record Of Your Health Information"

or

H. L. Mencken - "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

Sunday, November 14, 2021

I Think The ADHA Is Planning To Use A Sledgehammer To Crack A Nut!

This appeared just over a week ago:

Digital aged care transfer summary on near horizon

Australia’s digital health agency says work to design and deliver a digital transfer summary for aged care is underway.

Sandy Cheu

The Aged Care Transfer Summary will be an addition to My Health Record and enable residential aged care providers to digitally capture residents’ health information for transfer to another health facility, such as hospitals.

Aged care providers will be able to send and receive documents through secure messaging.

Australian Digital Health Agency branch manager of program and project delivery Laura Toyne said the transfer summary aimed to minimise “pain points” when sharing residents’ health information.

“We know that the yellow transfer envelope that often accompanies patients or residents as they move between settings doesn’t always get to the right place at the right time. And we have heard as well from particularly in the hospital sector, they’re often ringing back residential aged care facilities.

“So that missing bit of information they need, which causes administrative issues in the hospital, [can] compromise patient care at the point of that transfer,” Ms Toyne told Australian Ageing Agenda.

ADHA program director of aged care Carolyn Brown said an Aged Care Transfer Summary in My Health Record would reduce instances of missing information.

“It’s clear that having a standardised way of approaching that will improve the situation,” Ms Brown told AAA.

Ms Brown said work on the development of the transfer summary is in the early stages.

New initiatives in response to royal commission 

The digital health agency has launched an industry offer estimated at $100,000 to $150,000 for aged care software vendors to enhance My Health Record functionality in separate and combined clinical information systems and medication management applications.

Phase one includes enhancing software to include the ability to view the My Health Record for a specific care subject and the capability to create, upload and download advance care plans and directives and medication prescription and dispense records to the health record.

The second phase enhancements include the ability to create, upload and download aged care transfer summary documents and pharmacist shared medicines lists with My Health Record and send and receive via secure messaging.

In phase three the software must be installed and activated, operating as a clinical information system, electronic medication management system or both in at least five distinct aged care homes.

The industry offer is part of the agency’s response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, Ms Toyne said.

……

The tender closes on 23 November.

More here:

https://www.australianageingagenda.com.au/technology/digital-aged-care-transfer-summary-on-near-horizon/

I really never cease to be amazed at the ADHA’s hopefulness that Aged Care Facilities will find the staff and time to use the #myHealthRecord rather than just using a quickly written note to transfer a patient. It really feels pretty impractical and naïve to expect this level of change without a huge funding injection which we know has many other worthy destinations and is unlikely to be in the amount needed!

David.

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There is certainly nuts involved. Information systems to one side and let’s not think about cybersecurity costs. Fundermentally the cabling, comms rooms and switches/wifi are in a majority of cases not even there. Duress and patient service technology would be more help at this stage.

I wonder if they have assessed all the different referral and discharge requirements. Going from a hip replacement to an aged care facility is different that reversing to mental health.