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Care Doesn’t Have to Come at a Cost

Great care should not come at a cost

Care doesn't have to come at a cost

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The Challenge

Care comes at a cost for healthcare organisations. When it comes to outsourcing nurse call and critical system management, this cost often includes an exorbitant financial outlay and restrictive lock-in contracts.

In addition, chief information officers (CIOs) and maintenance staff still report that extensive hours are required to internally manage these systems. “It’s a never-ending job,” reported one CIO of a Geelong healthcare facility. While large costs are outlaid for installation, maintenance and support, the management problem continues to cost organisations in staff time.

System management uses precious staff time

The Solution

Jewish Care Victoria has found a way to solve this problem with a recent partnership with Xacom. Several months ago Jewish Care was using three different vendors to manage its nurse call, CCTV, access control and other critical systems. Jewish Care’s property manager explained that

 “There were multiple other companies I dealt with but no single account manager really controlling what we did across the board.” 

Precious staff hours were required to contact vendors, organise maintenance, train staff and conduct other system management activities.

In working with Jewish Care, Xacom understood the challenge it faced. Xacom proposed that they would service and support all Jewish Care’s systems, regardless of the brand or platform. Through Xacom’s industry partnerships and specialised staff, Jewish Care could keep its existing infrastructure, while handing the system management to a company it trusted. At no additional cost, the team has just one number to call and one account manager to speak to, for all their service and support needs.

Complete care

The Results

With the management of the various systems outsourced, the property manager and the team can devote this gained time to numerous activities that assist in providing better care for their residents. Through recommendation and system restructure, additional costs were able to be reduced, including a 50% reduction in system software costs. Staff training hours for software support were eliminated.

Jewish Care still says that one of the greatest benefits is being able to trust in Xacom’s care theyand dedicated account management. “Just knowing that I have someone on the other end of the phone who responds and acts immediately gives me peace of mind.”

These comments highlight that vendor-client relationships built on trust are the key to overcoming the system management challenge and outsourcing support effectively. Too many single vendor solutions lock down a company’s options and force them to sacrifice choice of solution for convenience of management. This service and support solution for Jewish Care proves there is an option, where trusted relationships can provide economic and effective system management options. Care doesn’t always have to come at an exorbitant cost.

Xacom exists to connect people so they feel safe, providing solutions for critical communication, compliance, access control, duress and CCTV with 24/7 support.

Get in touch to speak with our technical consultants through the form below or on:

1300 854 329

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Simple, Secure Critical Messaging for Hospitals

Staff can care better with one device

Simple, Secure Critical Messaging for Hospitals

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The Challenge

One of Melbourne’s largest and most prestigious hospitals had implemented various critical communication methods over the years. However, staff were burdened with carrying numerous devices such as pagers, smartphones and other handsets. 

Systems and their associated devices were becoming numerous and complex to manage for both IT staff and medical professionals. It was time to streamline the communication process by consolidating into a single device.

The Solution

The solution needed to be as simple as paging so that it was easy to use. The hospital’s Chief Nursing Information Officer explained:

“Critical messaging applications shouldn’t be complex. They need to be so simple they can be used easily by any staff member in our hospital, on today’s modern devices.”

Simultaneously, the solution needed to be modern, secure and integrated with existing infrastructure. We built these elements into the Xacom Messaging App, creating the simplest and safest platform for critical communication in hospitals.

Xacom Critical Messaging App

The Results

Staff were able to reduce the devices they carried to just one handset. Communications have been streamlined which allows staff to focus their attention on caring for their patients, rather than keeping track of various devices and applications. 

“Xacom’s app enabled us to simplify and streamline our communication, with limited training required for our staff.” – Chief Nursing Information Officer

Xacom exists to connect people so they feel safe, providing solutions for critical communication, compliance, access control, duress and CCTV with 24/7 support.

Get in touch to speak with our technical consultants through the form below or on:

1300 854 329

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How Integrated Platforms Take Pressure Off Staff

Staying compliant and mitigating risk is essential for schools

Safe, Secure, Compliant: How integrated platforms take the pressure off staff

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The Challenge for Independent Schools

What does it take to keep your school safe, secure and compliant?

Schools have a higher duty of care than most industries and the administration involved in proving compliance is growing. The result is increasing pressure on staff to complete labour intensive processes that take away from higher level activities.

Recently when speaking with one of Melbourne’s foremost independent schools, they commented:

“Most schools are handling risk management with resource heavy systems, whether those be paper-based run by administrators, or costly systems managed by IT.”
Integrated Compliance Platforms relieve stress on staff

The Solution

Integration of existing systems is the next step for compliance solutions in independent schools. Smart building technology means that data can be collected automatically and then integration allows it to be delivered to a single platform. The workload for staff is reduced dramatically and human error is eliminated with real time auditing.

An example can be found in one of Australia’s global food manufacturers who have experienced the benefits of integrated compliance systems. They use fever detection cameras integrated with access control to lock down doors in case of contaminaiton. Late last year the system denied access to a manager who did not realise he was infected. Their technical adviser told us:

“The resulting quarantine would have cost us in reduced production, financial burden and staff wellbeing. A whole plant shut down… that would have cost millions.” 

She also explained the difference an automated temperature and lock down system has made for staff:

 “Staff were feeling guilty that they were turning people away with high temperatures, but now they can just appeal to our new policy and have peace of mind. It takes the pressure off. It’s all up to the system.” 

In this example contamination management was fully automated, but temperature detection and access control is just one possible integration.

Enquire about Xacom's Integrated Compliance Platform

How do these solutions work?

Smart building platforms can now ensure complete site compliance. Arrival Compliancy is one such integrated platform created by Xacom, integrating contractor, visitor and staff compliance with existing electronic security systems to create powerful synergies. Some of these include:

  • QR code access and geo fence automated sign in for contractors
  • Automatic removal of contractor access permissions if licenses and certificates have expired
  • CCTV analytics to detect threatening behaviour before an incident occurs 
  • Automated access control based on temperature, COVID questionnaire responses and other customisable inputs
  • Instant access control travel paths in case of contamination

Xacom’s Compliance and Security consultant explained: 

“Schools have such a high duty of care, it’s essential to automate data collection and be able to access it from a central platform. Regulations are only increasing and so smart building technology will be the way forward to manage this burden.”
Schools can be safe, secure and compliant with Xacom Arrival Compliancy

How could Integrated Compliance Platforms help your school?

Platforms like Arrival Compliancy are paving the way for risk management to be handled by building systems, so staff can get back to higher value activities. Safety, security and compliance does not have to cost your staff their valuable time. Discover more about integrating your existing systems into one platform through Xacom’s Arrival Compliancy. 

Xacom exists to connect people so they feel safe, providing solutions for critical communication, compliance, access control, duress and CCTV with 24/7 support.

Get in touch to speak with our technical consultants through the form below or on:

1300 854 329

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Case Study: Automated COVID19 Compliance for Global Food Manufacturers

Case Study:
Automated COVID19 Compliance for Global Food Manufacturers

The situation became critical for our client, a global food manufacturer, when staff reported temperature guns getting inaccurate readings as low as 28 degrees on entering visitors. These frustrating errors meant two staff members needed to be stationed on each entrance at all times, in order to ‘double test’ each person. These staff members had to come into close proximity with other individuals to take temperatures and were at high risk of infection. The manufacturer prides themselves on rallying together in times of challenge and was committed to finding a safe solution for protecting their employees.

Xacom began investigating a solution that would relieve the administrative burden of manual temperature checking for our client. We also wanted to be able to guarantee the highest level of accuracy and safety. Through a collaborative process, together we developed a solution.

Xacom Active Fever Detection System

A thermal camera system that alerts for high temperatures in approaching individuals, which integrates with other critical communication systems. The system’s flexibility allows for its temperature detection features to be used for any or all of the following:

 

  • Temperature checking
  • Check Ins
  • Fever detection and alerting
  • Data collection and storage
  • And the option to integrate with access control
Active Fever Detection

The system addressed the corporation’s needs in the following ways:

Challenge

Solution

High traffic environment

AI powered processing is able to process 5+ concurrent faces in 0.2 seconds from 3+ metres away

Heavy administration burden on staff 

The automated system instantly measures temperature and time, sending instant alerts of fever risks with images and timestamps to relevant staff as well as alerting locally

Opportunity for Increased Safety

Temperature accuracy of +-0.3 degrees and access control integration to restrict building access to at risk individuals


"The global food manufacturer was immediately able to remove a staff member from each temperature detection station."

The Results: The global food manufacturer was immediately able to remove a staff member from each temperature detection station, enabling them to get back to their regular tasks. Additionally, the remaining staff member was no longer at risk of coming into contact with a COVID positive individual as the system automated the temperature reading and they could stand back and supervise the process. Many other staff were able to get back to their regular roles as they could trust the system to alert them when it needed attention and they were able to be notified of alerts from their email inboxes. The corporation decided to install the system in five of their facilities and at multiple entrances for some of them. Over the coming weeks many staff, visitors and contractors were denied entry, keeping the facilities safer and allowing them to efficiently meet external regulatory requirements.

We would love to talk about the solution you need. 
Give our team a call on 1300 854 329 or leave your details below and we will be in touch.
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Does high risk always have to mean high price?

80% of doctors face violence from patients

The stakes are high in healthcare, for everyone. So much so, that you can not longer have a conversation about care without talking about risk mitigation. Smaller medical clinics and general practices are often overlooked, but they face many of the same risks as larger healthcare facilities such as patient aggression.

A 2018 report  showed that four out of five Australian GP’s have experienced violence from aggressive patients. According to the RACGP, general practice managers are responsible for protecting their staff and patients from violence and other risks. Not only this, but they are required to prove to regulatory authorities they have done all they can to keep their facility safe.


"The price tag just isn’t justifiable."

In their Standards for General Practices the RACGP recommends installing panic and duress alarms for dealing with aggression and other emergencies. While there are critical communication solutions to assist larger hospitals, smaller businesses such as medical clinics, doctor’s rooms, small surgeries and general practices don’t often have the budget or need for these complicated systems – the price tag just isn’t justifiable. 

Risk management solutions need to be affordable for small clinics

There is a need for safety solutions that are tailored to the needs of smaller businesses. They need both the assurance of safety, and to be able to report on it to comply with OH+S laws and regulatory authorities. To lift this very real burden of liability on practice managers, Xacom created the I-Care X5-IP-Micro. 


"There is a need for safety solutions that are tailored to the needs of smaller businesses."

This ‘micro’ critical alarm system is designed to be customised to the needs of small medical clinics. Any number of call, assist and duress buttons can be installed wherever they are needed, to send an alert to any destination desired. After an incident where an alert has been triggered, instant reporting provides a comprehensive view of the event. The system can also integrate with CCTV and access control to produce a multi-system report on any critical event, making sure you can understand and provide information on an incident from every angle.

The I-Care X5-IP-Micro is a simple and cost effective solution, with the flexibility to scale with a business as it grows, allowing additional call points, destinations, reporting options and other systems to be integrated as required. 

Our systems are designed to relieve the burden of liability and the stresses of manual reporting for compliance, so you can get back to what matters most: caring for your staff and patients. Let us know what sort of safety solution you need, so we can help you focus on care. 

We would love to talk about the solution your want. 
Give our team a call on 1300 854 329 or leave your details below and we will be in touch.
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Nurse Call and Beyond: Automation in Healthcare

Emerging Technologies in Critical Messaging

Critical messaging in healthcare began with a bell on a bedside table for patients to ring when they needed a staff member. Nurse Call and paging has evolved since then to feature multi-system integration and a wide range of flexible destinations such as an encrypted Smartphone Messaging app. However, critical messaging systems haven’t changed in their fundamental purpose: They are designed to save lives and keep people comfortable. The best systems send time critical information about patients and residents to the correct staff member, on the best device, in the most efficient form so that immediate action can be taken. The fantastic byproduct of this is that it also increases efficiency, which allows more time for quality, face to face patient care from staff. These are two factors that will continue to shape critical communication technology development into the future.

Critical Communication System aim to save lives and enable comfortable lives for residents

Today automation is commanding the world’s attention. In healthcare fully-automated robots can already perform time and labour-intensive tasks. In some aged care facilities they deliver laundry and meals to specified locations, which frees up staff to do other, higher value activities. However, when it comes to saving lives and increasing efficiency, not every facility needs their own “Wall-E” or “Eva” robot. In an interview Adam Rowson, Sales and Marketing Manager at Xacom, explained how aged care facilities are benefitting from the utilisation of ‘resident profiles’.

Wall-e Disney's 2008 science fiction film

These profiles are designed for ‘resident monitoring’, a term for the care of residents experiencing dementia symptoms, diminished cognitive functioning or reduced mobility. Each profile is tailored to a particular resident, using non-invasive sensors to collect data about the residents’ habits and then alert staff when an activity outside the pre-set parameters is triggered. This technology allows for an increased sensitivity to a resident’s state, without requiring constant staff observation of the person. This not only allows a higher level of care and safety, but in addition residents are enabled to live relatively uninterrupted, independent and dignified lives.

Diagram representing how Resident Profiling works in dementia care

Above: How ‘Resident Profiling’ works in care for people experiencing symptoms of dementia. Source Xacom.

Resident monitoring has also been used by one of our clients for another more unexpected benefit. As behavioural data is collected and analysed, the resulting data reports can be used to identify symptoms of pain, illness or infection. Behaviours such as repeated trips to the bathroom, tossing in one’s sleep, endlessly walking around the room and resting for unusually long time periods can all be indicators that something needs attention. Identifying these symptoms early can allow staff to take preventative measures and ensure the safety and greater comfort of residents. A client of ours, one of Australia’s foremost aged care providers, uses resident profiles and the information gathered from multiple different systems to better understand resident behaviour and improve their care. They are excited about using the tailored and reliable data collected through their resident monitoring software to identify crises before they happen.


"They are excited about using ... resident monitoring software to identify crises before they happen."

Perhaps by the time some of us retire we will have our own personal robot to make and deliver our morning coffee. Perhaps not. What we do know though is that, as technology continues to develop, new ways will be found to keep people safe and improve efficiency. Nothing ever replaces face to face care, but automation can help deliver it to where and when it is needed the most.

If you would like to discuss Resident Monitoring or another solution for your facility, please leave your details below and we will be touch soon.

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Wearing their Masks

Every new wave of COVID19 brings about a new wave of challenges for healthcare teams, who have now been under intense strain for several years.

It’s no secret that healthcare workers face higher risks of anxiety, mental health issues and burn out than most other industries in this crisis:

 

  • During the first half of 2020, a government study showed that healthcare workers had almost three times the risk of contracting the virus than other citizens.
 
COVID19 has had significant effects on the mental health of Healthcare Workers

Image: Xacom 2021

One doctor and his team in Melbourne’s Western Suburbs was tasked with treating elderly COVID19 infected patients:

“We worked 10 – 20 hours of overtime each week” he said, “the hospital was also at the point of having almost all new admissions – all suspected COVID – and not much capacity to look after patients presenting with anything else.” 

He reflected on the stress he felt when sending his junior doctors into contact with infected patients and worse still was the fact that they were all working so hard but knew there was little they could do. Many of those patients passed away. 

At Xacom our claim is that ‘we care as much as you do’ and we’re setting ourselves an extremely high bar. How can you care as much as a health care worker during a pandemic? But this is the bar we’re reaching for. We’re aware that our clients are pretty much saving the world right now and our support needs to be like breathing – so complete and automated that it can be taken for granted. 


"...our support needs to be
like breathing-
so complete and automated
that it can be taken for granted"

Recently at the Xacom office we held a fundraiser called PPE day. We wore PPE – well, dress up PPE including disposable rain coats and shower caps – to experience a little of what it’s like working in it all day, everyday. Of course our little taster was nothing like actually working in a COVID19 ward, but it gave us a prompt to reflect on how our healthcare workers might be feeling as they work double shifts, struggle to sleep from stress and sit with patients whose loved ones couldn’t be with them as they passed. Of course most health care workers I know don’t complain much and just get on with the job, but we don’t want to take that for granted. 

Image: Xacom’s PPE Day Fundraiser – Xacom 2021

This isn’t the only way Xacom has been trying to walk in our clients’ shoes – or ‘working in our clients’ disposable gloves’ if you like. Xacom’s executive chairman, Matt Kirwan-Hamilton expresses it like this: “The first step has always got to be understanding the client’s needs and challenges. That’s when we can work together to develop the solution they really need, rather than give a product we already have.” An example is Xacom’s recent work with a major Melbourne hospital, developing a Smartphone Messaging Solution, to address the unnecessary complexity faced by healthcare workers when communicating with multiple different devices.

"The first step has always got to be understanding the client's needs and challenges. That's when we can work together to develop the solution they really need..."

In a time where the Australian healthcare industry faces some of its greatest challenges, providers need to show understanding, care and know what it’s like to walk in the shoes of nurses and doctors – or more literally, know what it’s like to wear their masks.

Discover more about Xacom’s 

Smartphone Messaging Solution