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Aged care and the hospital interface

Written by Caroline Lee on .

This story first appeared in the May 2014 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine.

While much of the emphasis in the development of national eHealth initiatives such as the PCEHR has been on the primary care sector, it is in aged care – and aged care’s relationship with acute care – that the information sharing promised by eHealth is most sorely needed. Progress has been made, with some acute and aged care facilities able to access each other’s information, but there is still some way to travel.

During 2012 and 2013, with the financial assistance of NEHTA and the Department of Health, four aged care software companies worked to develop substantial software components necessary to enable aged care providers to access the PCEHR for their residents or clients through their software, and to register residents to the PCEHR.

This project was aimed at ensuring that information communicated between health organisations and professionals was supported in a secure, structured, and useful method.

There is some way to go until full adoption is achieved across the sector, and the industry is still awaiting the release of the Pathfinder project’s PCEHR aged care information sheets to guide providers through the process. The industry will support this process, once they are supported to use it, as aged care staff and providers know the benefits of having access to a resident’s health history.

These benefits include access to the information prior to admission to acute care to plan care and resources, when sending a resident to hospital so residents receive relevant care in their new environment, and following discharge from hospital to ensure appropriate changes to care are made.

To read the full story, click here for the May 2014 issue of Pulse+IT Magazine.

Posted in Australian eHealth

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