Telstra Health’s Chief Health Officer, Dr Monica Trujillo, said the tools have the potential to substantially improve the monitoring protocol for aged care home residents without putting any 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,” 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.”
Integration of the new algorithms into Telstra Health’s Clinical and Care Management software is now being planned.
Digital Health CRC CEO Annette Schmiede said the Australian-first innovation demonstrated how routinely collected data could be used to ensure elderly people received the care they deserved while easing growing 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,” Schmiede said.
“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.
CEO of Cooperative Research Australia, Jane O’Dwyer, said the translation of research into commercial, economic, social and environmental outcomes is key to driving future prosperity.
“We congratulate all winners of our Excellence in Innovation Awards and commend them on their efforts to help position Australia as a global leader in several fields,” she said.
Story: Michael Quin
