Our technology uptake is better than it used to be, but aged care specialists agree that there is still work to be done
Aged care is a changing area – gone are the days when aged care was delivered via a nursing home or hostel.
Today there is a lot more shared care, with families utilising the availability of community care support services that deliver care straight into the home.
The aged care industry has most certainly evolved. However, many argue that while the structures and care is well-defined, the information technology (IT) required to adequately support this evolution hasn’t kept up. It is widely argued that the aged care industry just hasn’t been big on the uptake of technology.
From the work I have been doing with a major organisation in aged care, I would argue that while that has been true in the past, it is certainly less so today. Aged care is only just starting to dip its big toe into the water instead of diving in, headfirst.
Some aged care providers have made the move from being paper-based to using electronic tools, such as computers and tablets. However, the lack of infrastructure across the industry means that they consistently struggle to keep them maintained with constantly changing client information.
Community service organisations are now engaging more openly with clients, case workers and management teams, yet most aged care organisations lack a flexible client management system that is people-focused and mobile. And most of them lack the resources to create or implement it, let alone support it.
Undoubtedly, larger providers are well-catered for with internal IT departments, but small to medium providers are either not large enough to fund IT internally, or those that do fund internally have only low-level IT support, and require high-level assistance on a project-by-project basis. And many of them don’t realise that there are a variety of IT opportunities from which they can leverage, regardless of budget limitations.
I believe it is important to get the basics right first. Any kind of software implementation – from financial systems and processes, through to care plans and medication management for residents – needs to be underpinned by a robust telecommunication and IT structure. Without it, you can define and plan your organisational needs, but you can’t support them. And there are plenty of opportunities for those with small budgets.
Information technology won’t directly improve the level of patient care. But it will provide a time poor industry with the ability to spend more time on patient care, and less time on paperwork.
And some of us, at some point, will reap the benefits.
Do you work in aged care? Let me know your thoughts!