Infrastructure Lacking in Aged Care for Digital Transformation

"Things that were 10 years in the making got stood up in 10 minutes – the take up of digital. It debunked a lot of the myths that people didn’t want to use digital platforms,” Integratedliving Australia CEO Cathy Daley told Australian Ageing Agenda.

“We’ve got everything from clinical assessments, allied health assessments, activities, exercise – all of those things are virtual.”

But while information and communications technology can help enhance service delivery, Ms Daley said digitising the aged care sector will take more than just handing staff iPads. “We’re only talking about giving someone a device in the field to access data about the client,” she said. “There’s a much bigger picture discussion required for the workforce to actually advance and to utilise automation and digital strategies.”

Although COVID-19 has seen more aged care providers adopt digital technology, the broader digitisation of the aged care industry remains in its infancy with many operators lacking the infrastructure to fully embrace the transition, said Ms Daley.

“What’s missing is what I call the back and middle office – your data scientists, your business analysts, your business optimisation, your work design, your person-centred design, cyber security, program management, change management, financial-modelling scenario – all of these things are missing.”

Read the full article at Australian Ageing Agenda here.