Software will track changes

NEW software to analyse the clinical data of aged-care residents for signs of deteriorating health could reduce emergency hospitalisations and allow more time for end-of-life plans.

The clinical decision support software will be developed as part of Telstra Health’s residential aged-care software suite during the next two years in a $1 million partnership announced this month by RMIT University, Telstra Health and the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre.

Significantly, it will mark the introduction of clinical decision support software to predict deterioration, which is already used in acute-care settings, into aged care.

Dr Victor Pantano, CEO of the Digital Health CRC, said the project had enormous potential to keep more aged-care residents out of avoidable emergency care, as well as to provide earlier indications when residents were approaching end of life.

“Emergency hospitalisations are not only stressful for aged-care residents and their families, but they also place significant additional demand on hospitals,” Dr Pantano said.

“To be able to treat residents earlier, and avert the need for hospitalisation, is extremely important.

“Similarly, the earlier we can ascertain that an aged-care resident is approaching end of life, the earlier we can enact their advance-care plan and honour their preferences.”

RMIT Professor of Computer Science Lawrence Cavedon said the research team would work with gerontologists and aged-care staff to interpret data and develop new predictive analytics techniques, as well as adapting existing decision support methods from the acute-care sector.