New Zealand-based aged care provider Third Age Health has expanded its use of Celo Health's internal clinical communications platform to include its clinicians and aged care residential partners.

The aged care provider, which runs over 50 residential aged care facilities and some primary healthcare services across New Zealand, first used Celo's platform early this year to ensure uninterrupted communication between its staff in preparation for a surge in COVID-19 infections.

It is now onboarding its clinicians and partners to the platform, expecting the process to "drive improvements in clinical efficiency, patient safety, and quality of care".

WHY IT MATTERS

According to Tony Wai, CEO of TAH, communication between their clinicians and staff are often challenged during high staff turnover. 

"With Celo, we have found a technology solution that is easy to use and strengthens the bonds in an environment where we need to really focus on increasing collaboration between interdisciplinary teams," he said. Bringing their entire care teams into Celo also means reduced email fatigue for clinicians.

Additionally, the expanded use enables the aged care provider to extend Celo licenses across external facilities for improved cross-clinical communication, thus, enhancing continuity of care.

"We know that the care homes we partner with face workforce pressures and so we are really thrilled to have found a technology solution which we believe will improve efficiency and relieve some pressure for registered nurses and staff in aged care homes," Wai said.

THE LARGER TREND

Celo has recently entered the United States market and is currently trying to partner with a Tier 1 hospital in Seattle, where it has set up an office.

In other news, Celo disclosed last week its partnership with Core Schedule to develop an integrated cloud communication and workforce platform for healthcare providers.

ON THE RECORD

Dr Peter Zink, medical director of TAH, said his team has been looking forward to expand their use of Celo. "It makes patient handovers easier, enables us to securely share images of things such as wounds, and means we can more easily support each other remotely with clinical case discussion. It helps enormously with not feeling isolated as a clinician, that you have the support of your colleagues if you have a question or need a second opinion".

"With Celo, the team at TAH were able to roll out the technology very quickly, giving all clinical teams connectivity with the right person at the right time. Together we’re saving time and resources while making sure the patient receives the optimal care no matter where they are," Celo CEO and founder Steve Vlok also commented.