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Aged Care eConnect

Clinical IT in Aged Care Product Trial - Trial of an Electronic Prescribing System

Focusing on improved management of residents' medications through electronic prescribing and generation of medication charts, this trial involves use of an existing GP clinical package in aged care homes.

Why the need for a trial?
How the technology is being applied?
Potential benefits
Trial evaluation
Consortium members
Amount funded
Outcomes

PDF printable version of the Presentation by Professor David Perkins 4 May 2005 (PDF 3968 KB)

If you are having problems downloading this PDF file please send an email to: acc@health.gov.au for a copy to be sent to you.

Why the need for a trial?

Residents of aged care homes have a high prevalence of chronic illness and complex care needs which can result in large amounts of complex medical information being generated. In an environment where the GP managing a resident's care is not always available on site, remote access to up to date information holds increasing significance for the effective management and administration of medications.

How the technology is being applied?

This project is trialling an existing GP clinical package installed in aged care homes and GP practices to assess the impact of remote access by GPs to medication information stored at the aged care home. Focusing on improving the management of resident's medications through electronic prescribing and generation of medication charts, the trial is examining the impact of IT on resident health outcomes, clinical workflow and on communication between homes and local GP practices. Observations from pharmacies supplying the homes will also be recorded.

Potential benefits

Quality of Care

Improve resident health outcomes due to:

• Improved communication and access to GPs
• Safer, faster, appropriate advice and treatment
• Clear, comprehensive clinical documentation
• Managing polypharmacy including non-prescribed drugs
• Use of electronically generated medication sheets

Other

To examine and share learnings related to the:

• Impact of IT on clinical workflow and medication management
• Governance of shared electronic health records
• Unintended or unexpected behaviours related to introducing IT into aged care homes

Trial evaluation

The trial is examining the impact of IT on clinical workflow and medication management within the aged care homes and with related GP practices as well as the impact of the system on the quality of services provided to residents and the workflow and behaviours of aged care staff and GPs.

Consortium Members

Illawarra Division of General Practice
Illawarra Retirement Trust (Wollongong and Towradgi, NSW)
St Andrew's RACF "Olunda" (Wollongong, NSW)
Unanderra Care Services (Unanderra, NSW)
Intrahealth Limited
Centre for Equity and Primary Health Research in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven (CEPHRIS)

Amount Funded

$205,330 (including GST)

Outcomes

The outcomes of this product trial are available for download.
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