Ascom deploys smart tech for Anglicare South Australia
ADELAIDE: In a continued effort to improve the quality of aged care, Ascom has deployed smart technologies, including wireless, smartphone and wearable devices, to modernise the delivery of services at Anglicare South Australia.
As a result of this partnership, Ascom will help the organisation modernise the delivery of its aged-care services across two of its facilities in the region.
Technology was a critical component in the implementation, aimed at improving operational efficiencies, reducing errors and integrating with key systems, as well as providing nursing staff with the relevant information for personalised care and support to all their residents.
Specifically, the following technologies were deployed in the community-based organisation that provides services across residential aged care, independent living, home care, mental health and disability services and foster care:
Ascom Myco 2 devices for caregivers – The smartphone devices have built-in workflows that enable messages from a resident to go to the right caregiver depending on the nature of the call. Integrated escalation chains which forwards the call onto the next best caregiver assigned to the resident if the first is busy.
Ascom teleCARE IP wireless – An emergency call system with integrated wander management and messaging to ensure help is at the right place, even when a resident is unaware. Accurate resident location aims to reduce alarm and staff response time.
Wandering management pendants – Wearable devices that provide the identification of residents, as well as the ability to raise a nurse call alarm.
Behind all of these devices lie an application software layer that allows for: sending messages to selected mobile devices, managing event escalation by caregiver or groups, customising care with scheduling and assignments, providing report templates (or creating custom templates), and configuring room types and features like motion sensors.
[Read more: Smartphones in hospitals: Make sure they are built for the task | NSW Health Minister apologises as hundreds of abandoned medical files are discovered in derelict former aged care facility]
A huge part of the deployment revolved around the usage of data, enabling managers and caregivers with the ability to make important decisions about unit performance, patient satisfaction and other outcomes.
Anglicare Head of Residential Aged Care Jacinta Robertson said working with Ascom to ensure the new solutions are used and implemented correctly and continued client consultation will help improve back-end support and frontline care management.
“Prompt caregiver responsiveness to resident calls is a critical component to us. Knowing that we can now send alerts directly to the appropriate caregiver will improve response to resident calls and delivery of better and more efficient care,” Robertson said.
According to Ascom Sales Director David Williams, the solutions provider looks to further work with Anglicare to provide point-of-care support and systems for more efficient staff communication. The company is currently working with Anglicare South Australia on call-bell response times, the ability to get reports out of its nurse systems and delivery alerts to mobile care staff.
