An experiment has been running in a western Canberra nursing home for the last two years.
While it does not seem to be anything, the experiment, which takes the shape of a digital information technology ecosystem named ACE, is radically altering the way treatment is distributed.
And it all boils down to the most valuable asset of all: time.
Joana Fernando, a registered nurse and instructor at Jindalee Aged Care in Narrabundah, said, She can distinctly see the team members engaging more with the tenants.
Handover, or the mechanism by which workers on shift move, has historically become a significant time user in nursing homes. Every resident's file, which detailed all of the treatment given each day, was paper-based and had to be signed off on by the head nurse at the end of each shift.
Handover could take up to 90 minutes on occasion. However, ACE, officially identified as the "Aged Care Ecosystem," has modified that for the facility's 250 employees.
It operates via an app on smartphones or tablets, with each of the 170 tenants providing a profile and details such as prescriptions, personal treatment (such as showering), and food needs all being tracked in real-time.
Almost all knowledge about resident treatment is now in the framework and can be exchanged with new employees.
Staff will also devote more time with tenants since handover periods have been reduced to as few as 10 minutes.
The use of technology allows workers to invest more time with tenants
Kasia Bail, associate professor at the University of Canberra, headed a team that evaluated ACE's results.
According to Dr. Bail's assessment, it resulted in a 20% improvement in efficiency, which equates to an extra 96 minutes per team member per full-time change.
She said that it has primarily improved the quality of knowledge that [staff] can access, as well as the pace at which they can access it.
When new team members are on shift to search the ACE, they can see all of the residents' treatments and documentation. They will view a full treatment history going back up to two years.
Healthcare technology is ‘stuck in another age.'
The elderly are likely to get a lot of coverage in next week's federal budget.
It is expected that billions of dollars in investment will be released to fix the slew of vulnerabilities found by the aged care royal commission.
One hurdle to strengthening aged care was described as obsolete infrastructure.
And, according to analysts, the ACE framework is assisting in meeting one of the main criteria, which is that each occupant obtains at least 200 minutes of treatment a day by 2022.
Marie Bismark, a public health doctor, and lawyer at the University of Melbourne said that healthcare technology is trapped in another age.
Dr. Bismark argues that systems such as the ACE are vital to strengthening elderly treatment.
Better technologies would be needed to supplement nurses', caregivers', and managers' skills, she added.
The Department of Health, which financed the trial, issued a statement that it was pleased with the system's evaluation performance.
The statement said that the government views the trial findings as positive, especially in terms of decreased mistakes in data recording and improved time nursing staff spends with clients rather than on administrative tasks.
However, the department has stated that it "does not specify software specifications or particular items for use by aged care providers."
Further product launch would therefore be dependent on contractual agreements between Humanetix [the developer] and aged care providers, it added.
Residents value extra time for workers
Ian Yates, CEO of the Council on the Ageing, expressed confidence that ACE will be adopted by aged care agencies.
He said that the federal government has provided funding for an ambitious piece of work. It's been a long-term experiment of careful assessment and the results have been very good.
Mr. Yates claims that digital technologies have the potential to significantly improve transparency and accountability in aged care.
He believes that enabling contact between the facility and the family in real-time is groundbreaking.
The industry has to shake up and there is no reason for them not to be using these kinds of resources."
Muriel Wilkinson, 93, a resident at Jindalee, appreciates the additional time workers will share with her.
She said that she may ask one of the employees if they have time to speak to her
So they come in and sit on the bunk, and they chat for about 10 minutes and it makes her feel better.
