University of Missouri, Sinclair School of Nursing S317, Columbia, MO 65211, USA; and Corresponding author. Email:
Centre for Health Systems and Safety Research, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Level 6, 75 Talavera Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia. Email:
Aust Health Rev. 2020 Apr;44(2):288-296. doi: 10.1071/AH18260.
Objective The aim of this study was to determine baseline information technology (IT) sophistication in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, residential aged care facilities. Method IT sophistication measures IT capabilities, extent of IT use and IT integration in two domains, resident care and clinical support. A survey was administered to all NSW residential aged care facilities (n = 876) between February and May 2017. A 15% response rate was achieved (130/876). Facilities were organised by organisational type, total residential places and remoteness. Using post-stratification weights, estimates of IT sophistication scores for NSW were determined. Regression was used to examine whether there was a linear relationship between IT sophistication and the ratio of residents receiving high care. Results Participating facilities were similar to other NSW facilities in residential places and remoteness, but different in organisational type. IT sophistication was highest in IT capabilities and integration in resident care. IT sophistication was lowest in clinical support. Respondents had a mean of 1.2 years of IT experience. IT sophistication varied among aged care facilities. There was a linear relationship (P < 0.05) with the proportion of high-care residents and total IT sophistication Conclusion Routine reports of IT sophistication in aged care are not available. If data were available, determining the influence of IT sophistication on the quality care for residential aged care would be possible. What is known about the topic? Aged care settings that deliver care to the older population need to be contemporary in their approach to delivering high-quality and safe care. Health IT holds great potential for improving the quality and safety of care of older residents in aged care facilities. What does this paper add? This report provides a baseline assessment of IT capabilities, extent of IT use and IT integration, called IT sophistication, among aged care facilities with variable characteristics. What are implications for practitioners? Increasing IT sophistication has the potential to improve the quality of care delivered by aged care staff.
目的 本研究旨在确定澳大利亚新南威尔士州（NSW）养老院的信息技术（IT）基础信息。 方法 IT 复杂度衡量两个领域的 IT 能力、IT 使用程度和 IT 集成程度，即居民护理和临床支持。 2017 年 2 月至 5 月期间，对所有 NSW 养老院（n = 876）进行了调查。实现了 15%的回应率（130/876）。设施按组织类型、总居住人数和偏远程度进行组织。使用后分层权重确定 NSW 的 IT 复杂度得分的估计值。回归用于检查 IT 复杂度与接受高护理居民比例之间是否存在线性关系。 结果 参与的设施在居住场所和偏远程度上与其他 NSW 设施相似，但在组织类型上有所不同。IT 能力和居民护理的集成度最高。临床支持的 IT 复杂度最低。受访者平均拥有 1.2 年的 IT 经验。养老院的 IT 复杂度存在差异。与高护理居民比例和总 IT 复杂度呈线性关系（P <0.05） 结论 养老院的 IT 复杂度常规报告不可用。如果有数据可用，确定 IT 复杂度对养老院居民的高质量护理的影响是可能的。 关于这个主题已经知道什么？ 为老年人口提供护理的老年护理环境在提供高质量和安全护理方面需要采用现代方法。健康信息技术有很大的潜力可以提高老年护理设施中老年人的护理质量和安全性。 这篇论文增加了什么？ 本报告提供了具有不同特征的养老院的 IT 能力、IT 使用程度和 IT 集成程度（称为 IT 复杂度）的基线评估。 对从业者意味着什么？ 提高 IT 复杂度有可能提高养老院工作人员提供的护理质量。
