Today’s guest post is by Jason Howie, CEO of Australian aged care services organisation, KinCare. KinCare employs over 2,000 staff across Australia, most of whom care for the elderly and disabled.
At KinCare, we believe that every person has the right to age with dignity, an affirmation which has guided our business caring for the elderly in their own homes, for over 20 years. With this sentiment, we have grown from an organisation with one nurse and 15 clients, to employing over 2000 people in 13 offices right across Australia.
Historically, our IT solution had been a frustrating patchwork of different systems, which were slow and didn’t talk to each other. While they served a purpose once upon a time, we needed a unified system that had easy sharing and that could accommodate our ever-expanding team. In the end, a cloud-based solution was the natural choice.
With so many staff directly in the field that need access to vital client information, using a totally reliable and mobile system was a top priority for us. With Google partner Cloud Assist, the KinCare team made the transition to Google Apps in just three weeks. The roll-out was simple and feedback from staff has been that the Google Apps platform is easy and intuitive to use, so we didn’t need to provide intensive training. Having a system that just works is absolutely essential because we don’t have the time for people to travel to fix basic IT problems, like email issues. In fact, moving to Google Apps has allowed us to reassign our IT staff to more strategic (and interesting!) projects.
The Google collaboration apps, Gmail, Calendar, chat, and video has allowed KinCare staff to come to one place for collaboration. With Cloud Assist, Gamozzii and the Google App Engine we were able to develop a portal and mobile application (myKinCare app) that provides the field team with access to relevant information on-time, anytime. Information is centralised and secured. The systems have a single sign-on which is particularly good for those who suffer from password fatigue!
As an added bonus, all information is changed and updated in real time, meaning we share and get client updates instantaneously. When there’s no lag, there is no gap in knowledge. We’re even looking at devising a new intranet portal on Google Sites so we can continue to improve on our internal information sharing. When carers know their schedules, are aware of any last minute changes to appointments and have access to the latest health information about their clients, it helps us maintain a high level of informed care and improved patient safety.
Posted by Jason Howie, CEO of Australian aged care services organisation, KinCare.
