Dr Priyanka Vandersman
Senior Research Fellow, ELDAC Project
Member of Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death, and Dying, Flinders University
Globally, digital transformation has been sweeping through healthcare in recent years and Australia’s health and social care landscape is also undergoing rapid digitalisation. The Australian Government's National Digital Health Strategy 2023-2028, [1] along with its corresponding Delivery Roadmap, [2] outlines several key initiatives aimed at fostering a digitally empowered care environment within aged care. Significant systemic and policy-level shifts including the Aged Care digital transformation agenda, the national interoperability plan, and the integration of My Health Records into aged care clinical systems are driving a digitally enabled aged care environment.
However, this systemic upliftment of digital infrastructure and systems is unfolding against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving care and regulatory landscape. The recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care 2020 have ushered in significant changes to the aged care sector, including the revision of the Aged Care Act of 1997, the strengthening of Aged Care Quality Standards, and the introduction of additional mandatory reporting requirements. Simultaneous transformation of the digital, care, and regulatory realms presents challenges for the sector in keeping pace with the rapid changes.
The latest Report on the digital maturity of aged and community care [3] highlights the ongoing need to enhance the digital maturity of the sector and identifies opportunities for innovation and improving staff's digital readiness. Amidst these changes, it is imperative to remember that the intent of changes both during and arising from the changes in the digital and regulatory spheres, is quality care for clients and residents. As a sector, we need to look at how we can optimize innovations that align with regulatory changes, and which alleviate current and future challenges.
At the core of digitally connected care lies quality data. While a considerable portion of the aged care workforce utilizes digital approaches for data collection, entry, or use, there is still much to explore in terms of data integration and transformation to support care. Changes are underway in the aged care data landscape with the adoption of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) and the development of the National Aged Care Minimum Dataset [METEOR]. [4] What is needed are innovative solutions that are not only effective today but also future-ready, designed to facilitate the sector in providing high-quality care by harnessing the power of technology to meet upcoming regulatory and reporting requirements.
Developing digital solutions must address work practices in meaningful ways, consider the reporting requirements for services, and enable access to real-time data. The ELDAC project is looking at how to support palliative care and care at the end of life in the aged care sector. As part of this work, we have designed and tested a palliative care dashboard, that aligns with the pending revised Aged Care standards and with the definitions of the aged care minimum data set. By enabling IT providers to map, extend, and/or integrate their existing data capture, the dashboard offers care providers an evidence-based framework that uses their data to inform care delivery and service review and reporting. The dashboard showcases how the concurrent evolution of the digital and regulatory landscape can be leveraged to support innovation and outcomes in the sector.
To find out more about the ELDAC Digital Dashboard, please email eldac.project@flinders.edu.au
*The views and opinions expressed in Knowledge Blogs are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of ARIIA, Flinders University and/or the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.