Australia’s health leaders have thrown down the gauntlet when it comes to getting the aged care sector on board with implementing vital technology reforms. Are you ready?

The nation’s aged care industry is caught in a current of change, with aged care reforms, business model transformation and the rapid development of new technologies converging and threatening to drag them out to sea if they don’t manage to clamber on board soon.

Leaders in aged care are have an extremely important task ahead in not only learning to think differently about the future of aged care, but to embrace it wholeheartedly.

Let’s download the key technology changes that aged care providers need to implement to survive and how digital transformation can help them to thrive.

An innovative investment in the delivery of care

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety unearthed and allude to two common themes throughout their report: data and information, or the lack thereof in the health and aged care sectors.

It’s no secret that industry providers in this sector have been grappling with the task of accessing the right data within their organization to be able to support and inform quality care in a timely manner. While there are providers out there using digital technologies in an attempt improve workflow and create transparency, the systems they put in place aren’t necessarily working in unison and don’t support the use of data to enhance their quality of care.

The bottom line is the main issue. Most aged care providers operate within tight budgets and don’t feel spending finite funds on technology is a sound investment. But with an increasingly digitally literate workforce, affordable and pervasive network connectivity and the price tag on industry-specific platforms becoming less and less expensive, the question is simple.

“Can providers in the aged care sector afford not to ride the digital wave of transformation to remain at the forefront of their industry?”

Conquering the barriers to ‘interoperability’

Another key word emerged from the Commission’s final report and has been deemed as critical to quality aged care. ‘Interoperability’ is the age-old concept of people, systems or machines understanding each other and working together harmoniously to achieve outcomes. These elements are hence ‘interoperable’.

When it comes to the aged care industry, using core technologies to exchange and communicate usable, real-time data to measure, integrate, analyse and create a holistic picture of their organisation to improve decision making is becoming more common.

“The immense power of data to produce a comprehensive picture of change in a person’s health, service use and well-being needs to be harnessed by the aged care sector.”

(The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety – Final Report)

Considering how technology might be used to relieve some of the operational pressures you’re facing as an aged care provider might seem like an insurmountable task at hand, not to mention thinking that the cost of an investment like this can only be achieved by investing a significant amount of money and time.

But if it’s structured the right way, digital innovation can be cost-effective and most importantly, have a huge impact on your clients, their families and your staff. And it’s much more accessible than you probably think.

Get ahead of the digital curve

Firstly, know you’re not alone on your journey to digitally transform your ways of working.

Let’s take a look at some practical ways that PowerHouse Hub’s Workforce Platform can help you achieve your strategic priorities, without breaking the bank.

• Assess your current state of play

Formulate your digital vision based on a review of your current practices and operating systems and identify where the gaps are.

Adopting new digital practices doesn’t mean you have to start from scratch. The PowerHouse Workforce platform integrates with leading data analytics platforms such as Microsoft power BI to transition the workforce data collected and enable it to be leveraged in existing data analytics platforms. Additionally, it works seamlessly with all CRMs and business intelligence systems including Sales Force, Microsoft Dynamics, Workday and other Oracle and SAP deployments. PowerHouse Hub’s highly experienced integration teams can manage innovative and collaborative integration projects for you organization based on your current workable systems and devise a plan tailored for your specific needs going forward.

• Overcome your pain points

Software implementations like the PowerHouse Workforce platform will help you, as an aged care provider, achieve greater organizational visibility, productivity and traceability, helping you meet your primary goals, which is providing quality of care for your clients.

As part of its operational excellence, the PowerHouse Workforce platform delivers a series of alerts, reminders and messages as it monitors job role skills and compliance for your organization.

Designed specifically with the aged care industry in mind, this platform provides a service management solution allowing you to better manage your HR and administrative processes, enabling you to track, schedule and allocate staff in real time to better services your clients’ needs and empower your team to be able to deal more efficiently with everyday challenges.

• Continually improve for enhanced interoperability

Progressive change to improve quality of care and interoperability in your aged care organization will only come with the quick uptake of digital technology to ensure improvements now and into the future.

Adopting a contemporary application like the PowerHouse Hub Workforce platform to your operational processes will enable better access to holistic data in your organization and provide you with a strong foundation from which to grow and enhance your service delivery for the future. From improving the customer experience to delivering analytics and business intelligence across the organization in real time, PowerHouse Hub can equip you with the tools you need to continue your digital transformation journey for years to come.

Ready to witness the power of innovation?

Schedule a free, no obligation demo to discover the benefits of PowerHouse Hub for your business.