The aged care sector in Australia faces significant challenges. While many of these issues have been clearly identified, their urgency has been further highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology such as in-home monitoring is one way to address some of these challenges. However, the efficacy of technology must be considered together with its implementation and running costs to ensure that there is a return on investment, and it is economically viable as a solution. A pilot program was run in-home monitoring system to test the efficacy of this system. This paper focuses on an economic analysis to better understand the financial viability of such systems. Using a secondary analysis approach, the findings identified that revenue could be generated by providing carers with additional services such as real-time monitoring of the client, which can foster deeper relationships with the customer, along with savings of healthcare costs to carers, service providers and Government. Savings are related to the earlier intervention of critical events that are identified by the system, as delays in treatment of some critical events can create much more severe and costly health outcomes. Further health costs savings can be made via trend analysis which can show more nuanced health deterioration that is often missed. The implementation of preventative measures via this identification can reduce the chances of critical events occurring which have much higher costs. Overall, monitoring systems lead to a transition from a reactive to a preventative services offering, delivering more targeted and personalised care.
翻译:澳大利亚的老年护理部门面临重大挑战。虽然已经明确查明了其中许多问题,但在COVID-19大流行期间,这些问题的紧迫性得到了进一步强调。诸如家庭内监测等技术是解决其中一些挑战的一种方法;然而,技术的功效必须连同其实施和运作成本一起加以考虑,以确保投资有回报,在经济上是可行的解决办法。一个试点方案在家中运行,以测试这一系统的效率。本文侧重于经济分析,以更好地了解这种系统的财务可行性。利用二级分析方法,发现通过向护理人员提供额外服务,如实时监测客户,可以产生收入,这可以促进与客户建立更深层次的关系,同时节省护理人员、服务提供者和政府的医疗费用。节省与系统确定的关键事件的早期干预有关,因为某些重大事件的处理延误可能造成更严重和代价更高的健康结果。通过趋势分析,可以进一步节省保健费用,这可以表明健康恶化的情况往往被忽略。通过这种监测执行预防性措施,可以促进与客户建立更深层次的关系,同时节省护理人员、服务提供者和政府的医疗费用。节省与系统确定的关键事件的早期干预,因为某些关键事件的处理可能会产生更激烈的预防性反应。