Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck, Minister for Aged Care, will provide the opening address at the third annual Health Metrics World Conference in Melbourne tomorrow.
The conference – to be held on August 29 and 30 at the Crown Conference Centre in Melbourne - is organised and funded by privately-owned, Australian based software company Health Metrics.
A key event on the aged care industry calendar, the conference aims to highlight and showcase the latest technology solutions available to the health and aged care sector in Australia.
Speakers include national peak body representatives and industry leaders such as Sean Rooney, CEO of Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), Matthew Richter, CEO of the Aged Care Guild, Maree McCabe, CEO of Dementia Australia, David Moody, CEO of National Disability Services and Maggie Beer, well-known Australian cook and author (who has been active in submissions to the Royal Commission regarding food standards in Aged Care).
Discussion at the conference will centre on the recent activity and outcomes from the Royal Commission into Aged Care, highlighting failures in facility systems that cause inadequate outcomes or mistakes in key areas such as Medication Management and Catering (food provision).
Steven Strange, Health Metrics CEO, believes the types of errors highlighted by the Royal Commission to date could be avoided with modern electronic systems in place and has publicly called for the Royal Commission to make a recommendation to mandate the use of modern electronic systems across the aged care industry.
"Such systems should at the very least operate in real-time, across any device, be highly scalable, robust and operate as part of an ecosystem in terms of integrated interoperability and business intelligence", Mr Strange said.
"It's generally consensus now that big data and collaborative systems are a crucial piece of the solution puzzle. Co-ordinated, shared data – redacted where required – will be a catalyst for innovation, visual data insights, targeted solutions and efficiency.
With over 300 delegates attending from various senior roles within the aged care industry across Australia and New Zealand, Mr Strange is pleased that that the Minister for Aged Care will open the conference.
"It's vital that technology takes a front seat in discussions about the future of Aged Care in this country", Mr Strange said.
