Residential Aged Care Facilities Use of Clinical Care Software

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Aged Care Industry Information Technology Council (ACIITC) has embarked on the Residential Aged Care Facilities Use of Clinical Care System Software project. This is a critical time for the aged and community care sector considering the Commonwealth Government aged care reform agenda driven by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. ACIITC highlights the “universal adoption of the aged care sector of digital technology and My Health Record” (Recommendation 68) which recommends every approved provider of aged care delivering personal care or clinical care to enhance their uptake of clinical software as well as develop comprehensive policies and procedures relating to the collection and safety of this data.

ACIITC is committed to promoting the evidence available to demonstrate the benefits of incorporating innovation and technology in aged and community care. ACIITC is proud to participate in this project as one of our range of international and national research activities to spotlight best practices, digitally enhanced service delivery and improvements in quality outcomes for older Australians and their families.

Significantly, this report identifies a range of challenges and barriers for aged care providers when adopting clinical care software in their practice. The findings also detail the opportunities and potential for enhanced uptake of clinical care software for residential care providers with respect to improving data collection, enhanced care planning, and providing a better quality of care for older Australians.

To download the report, click here.

Citation: Livingstone, A, & Gould, G 2023, ‘Residential Aged Care Facilities Use of Clinical Care Software: Final Report’, Aged Care Industry I.T Company, Australia.

This report has been developed in collaboration with the Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency).

About the project

ACIITC has undertaken an investigation of the use of clinical care software systems in residential aged care. Further work was undertaken in 2022 to identify the use of clinical care systems in the Northern Territory. The project developed a research paper titled “Residential Aged Care Facilities Use of Clinical Care Software”. This report identifies a range of challenges and barriers for aged care providers when adopting clinical software in their practice.

Findings

The finding also detailed the opportunities and potential for enhanced uptake of clinical software for residential aged care providers including improving data collection, enhanced care planning and providing better quality of care for older Australians.

The research undertaken in 2021-22 identified the unique characteristics of all elements associated with the deployment and quality of the use of clinical care systems in residential aged care. Specifically, the report findings focus on the following areas:

  • The diversity of the current technology infrastructure in residential aged care facilities
  • The external use of clinical care software in residential aged care
  • Residential aged care facilities integration with My Health Record
  • Aged care providers future strategies for innovation and technology.

The opportunities and potential for enhanced uptake of clinical care software are identified throughout the report including the need for the use of more consistent terminology and data sets to improve data collection and the requirements for enhanced care planning for all professionals involved in the care of older Australians.