Aged care software helps Australian Nursing Home Foundation meet new Aged Care Quality Standards    

Switching systems 

In 1980, the Australian Nursing Home Foundation (ANHF) registered as a charitable trust; since then, the organisation has provided culturally appropriate aged care and support services to ageing Australians from Chinese, Southeast Asian and other backgrounds. As one of New South Wales's leading and largest providers of culturally specific residential and community-based aged care, the not-for-profit organisation offers culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) aged care to more than 1,200 people daily.  

Ada Cheng, CEO of the Australian Nursing Home Foundation (ANHF), explains why they decided to switch to Person Centred Software's Clinical Care System. 

Switching systems 

At ANHF, we currently have 161 residents, with an additional new home coming soon in February 2023, housing 84 residents. We support older people and their families from Asian and other culturally specific communities to live positively according to their priorities, choice and cultural traditions. We pride ourselves on providing specialist residential and community aged care services for Chinese, Vietnamese and Southeast Asian communities. Currently, we operate three nursing homes, three community homes, seven senior wellness centres and wellness hubs for people living with frailty and dementia, including a number of mobile wellness hubs too.   

 

 

Previously, we used aged care software that was challenging to use; it needed to be more fit for purpose and mobile, which meant it was often cumbersome to use. So, we decided to switch systems and use Person Centred Software's Clinical Care System instead.  

Our organisation was one of the first ten customers to implement Person Centred Software’s aged care software in 2018; we were pioneers and strong advocates for the product. Ultimately, we chose Person Centred Software because we liked that Person Centred Software had over 20 years of experience developing, implementing and supporting systems for the aged care sector; we felt very confident in their abilities.   

Quick and accurate progress notes 
 
The Clinical Care System, designed to use on a handheld device, is fantastic because it enables our care team to view, evidence and manage care at the point of delivery. It's straightforward to use, and the icon-driven interface is excellent for our non-IT literate and dyslexic care workers as well as care workers from CALD backgrounds with limited English proficiency; multilingual capability is essential for us. The icons allow our care team to record progress notes quickly and accurately, freeing them from administrative burdens, such as maintaining resident care records and paperwork. As a result, more progress notes are recorded, and carers can spend more time with residents. The Clinical Care System is also hosted and managed on a fully cloud-based platform supplied by Microsoft Azure, which means the platform is scalable, secure and reliable; I don't need to worry about data protection or losing data. In addition, we can now share important care information securely with other allied health and emergency services; for example, we can automatically compile up-to-date records that can be easily shared with ambulance and hospital staff.    

Another thing I love about the Clinical Care System is that our carers can record care whilst delivering care online and offline without worrying about the internet connection. It's ingenious; once the device returns online, the progress notes sync to the system, meaning there's no more rushing to write progress notes. Using the aged care software has increased operational efficiencies and made our carers work more efficiently; their work is more enjoyable, and they're much happier at work.     

Efficient monitoring and reporting 

The upkeep of our care plans has dramatically improved, they are well-written and person-centred, and we can now conduct informed assessments which feed directly into the care plans quickly and easily. I also like that all the usual charts and graphs are generated automatically from the evidence of care captured on the Care Delivery App. Additionally, our staff can access all the information whenever they need it: residents' preferences, care plans, and important information are available at their fingertips, meaning they have better visibility and accountability of all aspects of care provision. 

 

For management, we have a bird's-eye view; we can monitor each interaction and activity associated with each resident's care; we can see accident and incident trend analysis and have insight into things like falls, UTIs and BMI. We can also monitor care delivery to ensure critical care is taking place, like ensuring fluids are being given. Furthermore, we can measure the completeness of records and identify where records need attention and monitor the handover process, occupancy statistics and other KPIs to ensure consistent quality and provide safe and responsive services. Being able to access care intelligence helps us to stay on the front foot and be in control.   

 

 

Using the Clinical Care System has helped us meet the new Aged Care Quality Standards. We have instant access to audit compliance information and can now provide detailed evidence of care to demonstrate to ACQSC and other regulatory bodies. It's nice to be confident that the best quality, person-centred care is delivered at the facility. Person Centred Software is now an essential part of our pathway to improve our care; I'm not sure what our organisation would do without them.  

 

As a result of using the system, we have over 8,000 progress notes being evidenced daily; that's approximately 50 care notes per resident per day!   

 

 

We recently signed a contract with Centrim Life too, which we will be implementing in our new aged care facility in Gordon. Centrim Life is a very empowering consumer engagement and lifestyle management tool for aged care and retirement living. With its cloud-based modules, Centrim Life aims to enhance the lives of consumers, family members and staff by facilitating solutions for every requirement. For me, Centrim is about allowing residents to take control of their life at the nursing home. Our residents will be able to open an app and easily request meals, maintenance and repairs and find out what activities have been planned for them etc. For example, for residents with dementia who might not know that they have diabetes or a soy allergy, the Centrim Life dining module can automatically block residents from ordering certain meals that relate to their dietary and allergy requirements. It's a great module because getting a nurse to walk around every resident to order meals would have been very time-consuming. Centrim Life will also be great for activities; residents want to enjoy life and know what has been planned for their day.

  

We are keen to implement the following Centrim modules: 

 

• Lifestyle Management  
• Maintenance & Asset Management  
• Dining & Online Ordering   

For more information on Centrim Life and its modules – click here.  

 

If you would like to know more about our Clinical Care System, please don't hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team.