The two national aged care peak bodies have joined together under the banner of the Aged Care Industry IT Council (ACIITC) to commission a study into the sector’s IT readiness.

The comprehensive, stratified survey will be conducted by Campbell Research as part of a national project to roll out electronic prescribing and medication management throughout the sector by 2013.

The ACIITC hopes to develop a strategy for implementing a secure repository that GPs, pharmacists and aged care facilities will be able to access.

The project has received initial support from the Department of Health and Ageing and if the funding is ongoing, the new platform will be implemented throughout 2012 and 2013.

Earlier this year the council released a report which presented the case for electronic medication management in aged care.

ACIITC spokesperson and the CEO of Aged Care Association Australia (ACAA), Rod Young said he believes the survey would bolster the findings of the report.

“We want to inform the Department of Health and Ageing through our proposal about the current status of the industry in terms of its IT readiness,” he said.

“We want to outline what the industry would need to do to achieve maximum deployment.

“What are the barriers? What are the things stopping aged care services getting online? What might the barriers be in the future? What needs to be addressed to make the deployment easier?”

The ACIITC ran a series of workshops with providers at the end of 2009 and Mr Young said there was strong support for the project.

“The people that have already started down the path of electronic medication management say it has been extremely effective and those who are yet to do that are certainly interested in the concept.”

Campbell Research aims to hold 300 telephone conversations with a broad mix of provider groups beginning next week.

The ACIITC is urging providers across the country to provide input into the industry’s future by participating fully in the survey.