Integrated assessment models can drive efficiency
Integration would allow the sector to collect data once, and use it many times, says an expert.
Adopting an integrated assessment system in Australian aged care would remove duplication and inefficiency, says Professor Len Gray.
Issues related to data gaps in aged care – including a lack of standardisation – were a major part of sessions at the recent Innovation and Technology Across Care Conference.
The discussions included the need to agree on a single fit-for-purpose system, an explainer on digital health and aged care strategies underway and a collaborative initiative working to accelerate the development and adoption of data-sharing standards.
Among those involved and calling for action on data standardisation was Len Gray, a professor in geriatric medicine at the University of Queensland Centre for Health Services Research Faculty of Medicine.
Professor Gray, a practicing geriatrician who consults with aged care residents, described the current aged care data journey in Australia as “collect many times and use once”. That’s the opposite of the goal: collect once and use many times.
Along with no current data standards, the issues include Australia’s compilation assessment system, said Professor Gray – who is also a board member and the Australian coordinator for multinational research collaborative interRAI.
The solution, he told ITAC delegates, is to adopt an integrated assessment model and align it with emerging data standards. Speaking to Australian Ageing Agenda at the ITAC Conference, in the video below Professor Gray explains compilation and integrated assessment systems and why Australia should adopt the interRai model across the whole aged care program.
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