Australia’s first electronic screening and risk prediction tool for detecting deterioration in aged care residents has won a prestigious national award for its significant impact on health and safety.
The innovative digital health tool, developed by RMIT University and Telstra Health in partnership with the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), has earned the Award for Impact from Cooperative Research Australia.
The tool reliably identifies deterioration in frail aged care residents by utilising clinical decision support software, a technology already in use within acute care settings. This tool can automatically monitor both structured and free-text electronic patient records for 36 evidence-based indicators of deterioration, making it the most reliable of its kind developed to date.
In addition to providing aged care staff with a frailty index for each resident, the system can also generate specific alerts for risks such as falls, depression, and mortality.
Dr Tabinda Sarwar, a data scientist and project lead from RMIT, highlighted the complexity of the project, which involved creating solutions tailored to the unique workflows of different aged care homes.
“We’re proud of how we overcame these challenges to develop solutions that can impact more than 60,000 elderly residents in Australian aged care homes,” she said.
The research team collaborated with gerontologists and aged care staff to analyze historical data, develop predictive analytics techniques, and adapt existing decision support methods from acute care. The tool has undergone clinical validation and usability studies with nursing staff from multiple aged care facilities.
Telstra Health’s Chief Health Officer, Dr Monica Trujillo, emphasised the potential of these tools to significantly enhance monitoring protocols for aged care residents without adding extra burden on nursing staff.
“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.”
Telstra Health’s Chief Health Officer, Dr Monica Trujillo,
Dr Trujillo noted that advancements in natural language processing and machine learning have now made it possible to automatically analyse data from free-text notes and assessments in electronic records, a technical barrier previously insurmountable.
Integration of the new algorithms into Telstra Health’s Clinical and Care Management software is planned, promising further improvements in aged care.
Digital Health CRC CEO Annette Schmiede commended the innovation for demonstrating how routinely collected data could ensure elderly individuals receive the care they deserve while easing demands on healthcare providers.
“Australia has a rapidly ageing 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,” she added.
The Cooperative Research Australia’s Excellence in Innovation Awards, recently held in Brisbane, showcased the positive impact of industry-research collaborations.
