Issue 8
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Aged care showing leadership in eHealth
There has been much said in the media recently regarding eHealth and the potential future benefits it will bring to the Australian health care system.
What many proponents have missed though is the achievements already made by the Australian aged care industry in electronic health. Over the past several
years many aged care providers have implemented eHealth systems that are already enabling significant benefits, with the key achievement of delivering
improved health outcomes for aged care residents.
The wider Australian health care industry should look and learn from the leadership that has been shown by aged care in the area of eHealth. Tangible benefits
continue to be fed back by aged care providers that have implemented an eHealth solution.
A great example of this is Samarinda Lodge, who implemented iCare’s Clinical and Care Solution in 2007 and most recently implemented iCare’s Medication
Management System.
To read the full case study on Samarinda Lodge and the implementation of iCare’s Medication Management System
click here.
Chris Gray - Managing Director, iCare
Winner of the Panasonic Rugged Cameras announced
iCare is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2 Panasonic Rugged cameras (one for you and one for your aged care facility) is Rosemary Pace - Catholic Homes.
Thank you to everybody who entered. The response was overwhelming. Stay tuned for another prize draw coming soon.
Your View -
Churches of Christ Community Care – Tracey Hurst, Interim Director Aged Care Services
EHealth has transformed the health information about our residents/patients into a format that allows the user to access and share that information more readily.
EHealth has enabled me to view and audit documentation remotely without interrupting staff or waiting in line to view a file. If an issue arises I can log in
from a remote location and view the resident record without having to visit the facility or ask someone else to document my verbal instructions.
Electronic submissions made to Medicare via file upload save time and provide reassurance that ACFI claims will be received by due dates. All Medicare forms can now
be completed electronically and this ensures that information regarding admission and discharges is received as soon as possible after the event. The result has been
faster processing of the monthly claim and receipt of the payment statement, which enables our accountants to complete their financial reporting more quickly.
Monthly resident incident and infection registers and charts can now be generated directly from completed electronic forms and this has removed the requirement for
duplicate systems.
The development of a health information exchange (iCare’s HealthPoint) should significantly improve the ability of health care professionals to share patient
information despite using disparate software. Our general practitioners have long been asking for the ability to transfer their information into iCare rather than
to have to duplicate their documentation and will be delighted when this function becomes available. Similarly our nursing staff look forward to obtaining information
not previously accessible.
The ability to communicate between various software systems also impacts on our financial and human resource functions and interoperability between these programs
would represent a significant benefit.
Communication between hospitals and aged care facilities has traditionally required copious paper based documentation, letter writing, endless photocopying and
considerable time. Staff sometimes find themselves in the midst of an acute health episode where time spent at the photocopier would be much better spent with the
resident. I would hope that eHealth will eventually enable the facility to electronically transfer all relevant information with minimal time required. And we might save
a few trees in the process.
 Pdf version for print.
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