Digital transformation in the aged care industry is rapidly accelerating as a result of the changing healthcare landscape.
With the ongoing risks posed to aged care residents in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as staff becoming increasingly time-poor, more providers are turning to digital solutions to increase operational efficiency and improve care outcomes.
However, infection control measures mean many providers have been required to lock down or restrict access. This can make it challenging to introduce new practices or tools remotely, and train staff across multiple facilities.
Through harnessing existing technologies and leading industry tools, PainChek has digitised the entire user journey for facility owners, clinicians and carers. From discovery and onboarding to pain assessment and support, we empower RACs to begin accurately assessing pain anywhere at any time, without the need for in-person meetings, complex set-up procedures, or on-site training.
Supporting providers during research and discovery
PainChek supports seamless initial research of the pain assessment tool through a vast number of online resources and tools, regardless of where a Residential Aged Care facility is located.
Via the PainChek website, providers and carers can easily access product demos, download e-Brochures, or watch videos to learn more about the pain assessment tool. In addition, our extensive Resource Centre provides an abundance of resources to support clinicians and carers in accurately assessing and managing pain, including previous clinical studies, white papers, and more.
If a facility is interested in learning more about the platform, PainChek allows users to instantly schedule a virtual call with a member of the team directly on the website. Once booked in, our team conducts digital meetings via secure online conference call platforms — allowing them to introduce PainChek and guide carers through the tool, even if different stakeholders are based in different locations or working remotely.
PainChek also supports paperless documentation, allowing contracts to quickly and easily be shared and signed-off without needing to be physically present at a care facility.
Did you know?
PainChek also integrates with 9 leading Care Management System (CMS) providers, whose software covers 180,000 aged care beds in Australia and more than 50,000 beds in the UK. These include AutumnCare, CareLynx and Sarah Software Solutions join iCare (Telstra Health), Leecare, Procura (AlayaCare), Person Centred Software, Manad Plus and Health Metrics.
Enabling seamless remote onboarding and training for carers and managers
After a provider has registered for a PainChek license, the clinical tool can easily be downloaded and installed without the need for a specialist to visit the site. PainChek is available directly via the App Store and Google Play Store, and can be instantly downloaded to a carer’s smartphone or tablet device.
Once installed, PainChek supports providers with an abundance of resources to ensure carers can begin using the tool to assess pain as quickly as possible. PainChek supports digital training via online video conferencing platforms, including:
- Dedicated sessions for clinical leaders to uncover how to leverage the power of pain assessment analytics
- Interactive sessions for frontline users, which covers how to use PainChek as a pain assessment tool. These interactive sessions also help nurses, clinicians and care staff understand how to undertake best practice pain assessment for those who cannot verbalise their pain, such as aged care residents with dementia.
In addition to digital training, providers also receive access to the PainChek eLearning platform, which can either be hosted on PainChek’s Learning Management System (LMS) or integrated with a provider’s existing LMS. As a result, PainChek’s suite of online training tools allows care staff to rapidly begin using PainChek to deliver better quality of care for patients — even if a provider is in lockdown or staff are working in multiple facilities across the country.
Digital pain assessment using AI and facial recognition technology
Pain is incredibly difficult to detect, and even more so for those who cannot verbalise their pain. PainChek leverages facial recognition, artificial intelligence, data analytics and smartphone technology to automate the pain assessment process — allowing caregivers to accurately and rapidly assess pain, while also supporting better patient outcomes.
Research from Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders revealed that newly admitted nursing home residents with moderate or severe cognitive impairment were 10 percentage points less likely to have pain-related behaviours documented by staff, compared to those with mild or no cognitive impairments. Documentation of facial expressions and nonverbal pain behaviours was also more frequent for residents with moderate and severe cognitive impairment, which underscores the need to effectively identify non-verbal cues when assessing pain. However, facial and behavioural changes are also some of the most difficult for caregivers to recognise — particularly if they are not familiar with the resident.
Furthermore, PainChek’s technology can be conducted from up to 3m distance, which assists facilities in complying with social distancing requirements whilst simultaneously minimising the risk of infection in the most vulnerable and protecting aged care workers.
Ongoing data analytics to inform clinical decision-making
Beyond supporting carers to deliver more accurate pain assessment, PainChek’s robust portal and client care management system empowers care providers with valuable data to inform clinical decision-making.
All pain assessment and resident data is stored centrally and securely, which allows clinicians to access chronological information about a patient and quantitatively chart the effectiveness of treatment over time. This centralised digital portal also eliminates the need for paper documentation in a facility whilst supporting infection control procedures.
This valuable data can be used to support best practice pain assessment by assisting providers to:
- Track pain levels over time, both for individual residents and at a facility level. This data helps carers to extract trends and patterns in pain throughout the day, week, or month, in order to plan subsequent treatment and follow-up assessments.
- Identify trends in pain assessment delivery, such as user adoption. Providers can then use this information to identify champions and tailor future training.
- Flag pain outcomes and risks, in the form of common pain indicators and associated behaviours. This information can support nurses and carers to become more confident and competent identifying the range of indicators that comprise the multi-dimensional nature of pain.
In addition, PainChek offers remote ongoing clinical support for partners to embed best practice pain assessment into daily clinical practice, as well as ongoing remote technical support via Zendesk.
Clinical leaders can also use the information housed in the PainChek portal to guide decisions around resourcing, care procedures and treatment efficacy. Both the PainChek portal and API data offer clinical leaders insights at an organisational, facility and individual level for both users and residents.
Register now for a free 12-month subscription to PainChek
The Australian Federal Government is supporting a national roll-out of PainChek in Australian residential aged care providers for residents living with dementia or cognitive impairment. Eligible providers can benefit from a free 12-month licence to PainChek in their facility — plus, the entire process can be completed remotely to support pandemic control measures.
