Aged services input vital for e-health records success
Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), the voice of aged care, welcomes the recently proposed changes to the Personally Controlled eHealth Record, however consumers of aged care services must be involved in any review or pilot sites.
“Changing MyHealthRecord to an opt-out model will increase utilisation by older Australians to the benefit of individuals, their carers and families, and our over-burdened health system,” says Patrick Reid, LASA chief executive.
“Engaging aged service providers and peak bodies, such as LASA, in the review process will be vital to ensuring specific needs are considered and addressed and that everyone involved in caring for older will understand how the system will work,” he says.
Mr Reid has made a call to the new Australian Commission on eHealth (ACeH) to actively involve LASA in its review process and acknowledge the importance of addressing issues unique to age service providers for the benefit of older Australians.
“This is also an issue for states and territories, with the management of chronic and acute health problems both in aged care facilities and community settings a growing cost for state budgets,” he says.
According to Mr Reid, the Council of Australian Government (COAG) should also push for the inclusion of aged care services in the pilot sites to ensure the needs of older Australians, their families and carers and service providers are addressed with a primary focus on improved health outcomes.
Improved e-health records and increased utilisation reportedly stand to benefit the one million older Australians who receive aged services, and transfer in between home, hospital and residential care.
“Evidence shows continuity of care, especially during the transfer between health settings and between primary and specialist care, results in improved health outcomes,” Mr Reid says.
LASA recently completed a telehealth pilot program that indicated acute hospital admissions were reduced by between 30% and 60% for older Australians receiving eHealth enabled services, while enhanced information and communication technology capability of aged services found a 20-30% improvement in workforce productivity.
LASA members believe the government has under-invested in aged care technology while health care providers have received incentives and funding to drive IT uptake.
“To create a sustainable aged care industry that can positively contribute to quality standards and outcomes within health care, funding must flow to give service providers adequate tools and connectivity to properly utilise e-health records,” Mr Reid says.
