Digital health solution for aged care wins national award
An electronic screening and risk prediction tool for deterioration in aged care residents has won the Award for Impact from Cooperative Research Australia.
Developed by RMIT University and Telstra Health, in collaboration with the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre, the tool is said to automatically monitor both structured and free-text electronic patient records for 36 evidence-based indicators of deterioration.
Data scientist and RMIT project lead Dr Tabinda Sarwar said the complex project involved solutions for different aged care homes, each with their own workflows and expectations for streamlining of tasks.
As well as providing aged care staff with a frailty index for each resident, the system can also identify specific alerts for their risk of falls, depression and mortality.
The research team worked with gerontologists and aged care staff to interpret historical data and develop new predictive analytics techniques, as well as adapting existing decision support methods from the acute care sector. The tool has undergone clinical validation and usability studies by nursing staff from multiple aged care facilities.
“It was only through this collaboration that we could gain the valuable insights to ensure our solutions were practical, effective and tailored to real-world needs,” Sarwar said.
Telstra Health’s Chief Health Officer, Dr Monica Trujillo, said, “This type of innovation, which has been standard practice for so long in hospital settings, is long overdue in the residential aged care sector and has enormous potential to uplift the safety and quality of care provided to residents,” she said.
“Technical barriers have historically prevented automatic analysis of data from free-text notes and assessments in electronic records. However, with the advent of natural language processing and machine learning this is now achievable and, most importantly, can be done without placing additional demands on already overburdened staff working at the coalface of residential aged care.”
There are plans to integrate new algorithms into Telstra Health’s Clinical and Care Management software.
Digital Health CRC CEO Annette Schmiede said, “Australia has a rapidly aging population. Innovative digital health tools, like the one developed by RMIT and Telstra Health, can ensure that aged care residents are receiving timely, personalised care and reduce the incidence of stressful and costly emergency interventions.
“Bringing together data scientists, clinical and care staff and patients to address this issue is what digital health innovation is all about.”
Cooperative Research Australia’s Excellence in Innovation Awards held in Brisbane showcased the positive impact of Australia’s established industry-research collaborations.
Cooperative Research Australia CEO Jane O’Dwyer said the translation of research into commercial, economic, social and environmental outcomes is key to driving future prosperity.
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