Workplace health & safety software; some pitfalls to avoid

The writing’s been on the wall.

Even for smaller aged care health providers, paper-based systems and Excel were impractical, at best. Then the Royal Commission happened. Then COVID happened.

The result? A growing burden of needs:

• patient information
• staff, and all their diverse needs
• compliance
• record-keeping
• audits
• contractors and third-party providers
• reporting; from simple patient reports, through to mandatory reporting and board reports
• incident management
• injury management
   

It’s meant that modern information systems went from being just valuable to essential. It’s not just a case of doing it right, it’s being seen to do it right, and evidence it.

In its formal response to the Royal Commission’s review, the government committed to a 'once in a generation' reform of the aged care sector. As part of its $17.7 billion aged care reform package, they recommended increased use of digital information systems, the better sharing of information and its management.

Information systems have been around for a long time. However, less so have been systems with the breadth, depth and capability to efficiently handle a wide diversity of needs. Certainly, some of those systems can handle specific needs very well, but, those one-trick ponies struggle beyond that.

Their lack of interoperability makes it difficult to manage information within an aged care organisation, let alone share it externally, such as with government agencies.

At the heart of the solution is, of course, a simple concept: ‘enter once, use many’. Or, as we would say, to have a ‘single source of truth’.

That’s the basis of a modern, comprehensive, and integrated platform. Of course, we would be the first to declare our interest in promoting it, as that’s exactly what we have. That’s our strength.

Good things happen as more needs to get solved by a single platform that has trustworthy data.

At the front-line of the organisation, compliance is a natural outcome, as mandatory requirements are embedded in the platform. It also becomes easier. For example, automation reduces the effort needed to get it right first time, and, given the wider sharing of information, tasks are easier to transfer between staff when role-sharing is a must.

As the helicopter gets higher, the ability to manage the organisation gets easier. Managers have less to manage, and boards get better quality data on which to make evidence-based decisions. It’s easier to see the trends and patterns that justify investing in improvements.

Having fewer systems also means fewer interfaces, which inherently reduces cost. And, if the platform is cloud-based, it increases reliability and shares resources widely; whether it’s across departments, or multiple sites.

The net result is that more money and effort can be spent where it really counts, looking after patients.

Whether it’s our system or others, we hope that this has helped make the case for a comprehensive, integrated platform. However, to help buyers, we would be remiss in not saying that the decision is more than the platform alone.

It’s our experience that other factors can and should influence your decision. For example, what migration tools do they have? What support capability do they have? How customisable is their platform? Plus, you are aiming at a moving target… what roadmap do they have?

Of course, start by comparing features. But, don’t stop there.

We love to help you with your decision. You can find out more about us at www.donesafe.com or call us on 1300 137 408.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Photographee.eu