Ahead of the introduction of mandatory care minutes and subsequent reporting, inTechnology Distribution has today unveiled an Automated Care Minute Reporting System, designed to help aged care providers with compliance.
The launch complements inTechnology’s Real Time Location System (RTLS) product suite currently used in aged care, which includes resident tracking, elopement prevention, staff tracking and contact tracing.
From 1 October 2023, the initial care minute requirements will be set at a sector-wide average of 200 minutes per day, including a minimum of 40 minutes of registered nurse time. This will be based on care provided by registered nurses, enrolled nurses and personal care workers. Funding will be provided from 1 October 2022 (the commencement of AN-ACC) in recognition that it may take some time for providers to attract and retain staff.
The Government’s policy is that, from October 2024, the care minute requirements will increase to a sector-wide average of 215 minutes per day, including a minimum of 44 minutes of registered nurse time.
According to inTechnology’s CEO Mark Winter, “The challenge for the aged care providers is how to capture and report the time spent with each resident without this becoming an administrative burden on their staff, taking them away from providing the best possible care for their residents.
“In order to eliminate this burden, we have launched an Automated Care Minute Reporting System based on Real Time Location System (RTLS) technology. This system automatically captures every interaction between caregiver, registered nurses and resident with detailed real-time reporting and alerts to ensure each resident receives the right amount of care minutes based on their case-mix classification, “Mr Winter added.
Another benefit of this system for providers will be the visibility to increase staffing levels to meet the care minute requirements, including better oversight of the corresponding funding.
