A data-based aged care system

This is a submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, made on behalf of consumers.

We propose a data-based aged care system allowing for

• rapid detection of individual health problems, and prompt help to individuals

• prompt help to providers, and well-based regulatory action where needed

• rapid detection of system health threats

• quality of care measurements to help consumers, providers and regulators

• appropriate Commonwealth subsidies for each care recipient

• well-timed transitions between care levels

• research on the cost-effectiveness of different monitoring systems

• research on the needs for different levels of care staff

• data access for treating professionals

• data access for researchers.

Automatically monitored care data are transmitted to a central agency and the provider, together with automatically-generated messages to the provider where help to a person seems needed. The data generated in a year would fit into about 10 mobile phones. This is about 10,000 times the data generated by the present system.