The Top 5 Things We Learned This Year and Our Client’s Priorities for Next Year!

Top 5 things we learned (about the sectors and about us!)

Five things were really hammered home for us as a business this year. The care space continues to evolve, as several core pillars remain true. Organisations we approached highlighted their own priorities for 2023 and we delve into them below. This is what we learned:

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Learning #1. Know your technology partners well

With the Medibank, Optus and a litany of other data compromises making headlines this year, the who, how and what partnerships you have with your technology suppliers is even more paramount. Areas organisations should ask themselves:

• Where are your tech partners located (onshore, offshore, under what jurisdiction)?
• How is my data protected?
• Can my systems accommodate the sector changes ahead?
• Should your current partners still be part of the A team?
• How can I bring together my functions and providers seamlessly?

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Who do you trust as your partner for your Care Management Software?

Was the recent announcement of a major care management system pulling out of the market a huge “Rug Pull” moment for you and you’re in the process of evaluating alternatives?
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For us, Lumary is our care management partner. We chose Lumary for their commitment to the industry and for their software’s ability to simplify care management by putting people first. Their integrated software stack streamlines workforce management, automates claiming and maintains compliance.
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When it comes to digitising and securing your client’s data, it is absolutely imperative to be doing the right things at all levels. In recent times we have borne witness to the devastating effects of cybercrime on Medibank and Optus which have shaken our confidence in these large companies to secure our data. Closer to our sector, just last year the Uniting Communities QLD was targeted by a Ransomware attack which took 4 hospitals offline as well as a range of aged care facilities and even got them disconnected from the national My Health Record.
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These scars are still fresh and Cyber security has to remain a priority for all operators in this space.

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Where is your technical team?

As lots of hacking is occurring offshore we wanted to be locked in here and ramp up security. When you ask yourself about the solution you’re putting in place, have you considered it from a risk management perspective?Have you considered the ramifications?
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On this sensitive (onshore / offshore) topic it is worth bringing up that we are regularly able to delight clients with the facts that our entire Conpago technical team as well as our servers are all Australia based. This two-for is a rarity and something we have done deliberately and are incredibly proud of.

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Who is in your “Corporate Partnership Team” and have you reviewed this recently?

‍For us, our penny drop moment during the year came with the realisation that the best way for us to support our clients is to integrate with the systems that provide to the providers, as well as the providers directly.

Solving problems about data transfer, custom-building tools for our partners and advising them on systems and process optimisation are all (apparently) within the scope of Conpago’s to-do list when we engage with our partners. Not to imply that we don’t derive incredible value from our partners as well!

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Who do you trust as your partner for sector shaking changes?

• The upcoming Asset Management legislative changes in the retirement sector?
• The 3g-4g Transition for Personal Emergency Response Systems?

We have found that an incentivised and aligned partnership working together on attacking bottlenecks and applying the theory of constraints at scale has been an incredibly rewarding experience for both parties. We believe while humble beginnings are being made there is no A-Z solution that is in the market and we are approaching the sector’s needs from a wide vantage point with our corporate partnership team who we are convinced are the best of breed in their respective fields. The problems Conpago and our partners are confronted with now, when solved, will pay dividends well into the future, especially for providers who are the early adopters.

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65% of QLD & VIC based providers we engaged with were not aware that legislation had been passed in NSW regarding asset management:

FYI, we have partnered with Asset Journey. The Asset Journey team has developed a cost-effective solution for operators to manage assets and stay compliant with NSW legislation. Conpago is working with Asset Journey to provide a resident portal and app that integrates with Asset Journey. With the combination of Conpago and Asset Journey, operators will have an integrated, end-to-end asset management solution.

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More than 50% of providers have not taken the necessary steps source new hardware to prepare for a “Hard Cutoff” in June 2024:

The transition from 3g to 4g has changed the landscape for the majority of Personal Emergency Response Systems nationwide and that over 300,000 units have to be replaced by mid 2024?

Conpago has partnered with Tunstall the leading PERS hardware provider and monitoring provider throughout Australasia.

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Learning #2. Webinar Fatigue is a real and probably a diagnosable thing

What a relief that we can see each other in person again. I distinctly recall a synchronised chorus at both the Retirement Living Summit and the Inaugural ACCPA National Conference events that the drought of in person interaction was over and all the relief that was brought with that.

Even though there is a new digital norm, we found that “Webinar Fatigue” is a real and probably diagnosable thing that has plagued us all.

It was refreshing and productive to be able to engage directly with the range of attendees at all levels. Many of whom it was the first opportunity for the classic “Nice to meet you in person” after half a dozen video conferences!

It enabled the “real talk” about granular and specific problems that were frustrating providers and operators in the sector, whether it was the macro national issues like staff retention in a tough labour market, or the rising cost of living. Alternatively, the micro issues affecting providers like reduced access to tradespersons for onsite repairs or questionable attempts at postal deliveries.

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Learning #3. Ensure you have the *click* with the products in your Tech-Stack. Alignment is a must!

An extension of Learning #2, Webinars and Video conferences replaced in person interactions, however now they have found their place as a supplementary offering to our communicative needs.

This is a perfect example of technology augmenting existing work requirements and offers a new level of flexibility that we are getting increasingly accustomed to. This is the hallmark of the correct use of technology for your organisation.

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How do we successfully demonstrate this technological *click* where you know it's the right product for you?

This is a question we tackle with new clients every day. Getting to know the people and the business is the first step of course, and as a prospective client we go through a process mapping journey to demonstrate how the product will augment or entirely replace low value tasks to increase the productivity and quality of life of the key staff that a business relies upon for service delivery.

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Alignment with customers is critical.

However, as outlined in Learning #1, aligned partners can shave years off software development roadmaps and can accelerate value delivered to our mutual clients to today.

Time and time again, we have found that as a software provider and technology partner, the ability to demonstrate that we are truly aligned with our prospective client’s needs is the most powerful tool to build a relationship.

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Learning #4. Why do we spend big on “this” but not “that”, we now know you're probably guilty of this too!

The correct tech-stack being in place is critical for consistent and scalable quality of service delivery by care providers.

After dozens of interviews with decision makers in this space, it has been quite shocking to see that no expense is spared for a quality Care Management System (and nor should it!) but investment in Client Experience Strategy is low. How a provider engages with their clients and ensures their experience is a positive one, is not yet securing the attention it demands.

We often get responses that range from a glassy eyed stare through to some frankenstein system that includes an uncomfortable amount of printing and envelope licking, huge manual labour costs, exporting lists from Microsoft Excel into a bulk email from Outlook with a sub 2% open rate, which aren’t tracked effectively. A communication engine room does not need to be this way, and we hope yours isn’t (we’re here to help if it is, btw).

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Learning #5. The only thing that is constant is change. How prepared are you?

This past year has made it glaringly obvious that the ability to digitally and remotely communicate with clients, care recipients and their circle of care as required, is a distinct advantage that only few players in the industry had going into 2020.

As we touched on in Learning #4, existing communication pipelines are not designed for speed and having the right technology at your disposal can prevent the problems when you lack the means to disseminate critical information effectively or can only do so after an unnecessary delay. This reduction in the ability to effectively communicate in a timely manner can leave providers on a slippery slope where there is the potential to harm the reputation of a provider.

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Agile and Pivot is still relevant.

After the word “unprecedented'', the terms ‘Agility’ and ‘Pivot’ were serious contenders for the most overused terms in 2021. As much as these terms became earworms, we have found that rapid increase of client expectations alongside increased corporate scrutiny has kept the term relevant in our sector.

“ Anyone who has accused the Aged Care sector of being slow has been under a rock for some time as the rate of industry shaking change has increased dramatically in the past few years.”

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Highlights

• Royal Commission Recommendations which have already been implemented
• Asset Management Software requirements in NSW for Retirement Living
• A new overarching aged care act is in process to replace existing legislation, including the Aged Care Act 1997 and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Act 2018
• The implementation of the Star Rating System in Residential Care
• Expansion of the Consumer Experience Interviews to feed into the Star Rating System
• Adoption of prescribed care minutes kicking in 2023 and increasing into 2024
• Transition from ACFI to AN-ACC funding for Residential Aged Care since October this year
• Recent bombshell being the change up on the built-in limits applied to Package and Plan management being billed to Home Care Packages

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Priorities for ‘Smart’ Care Organisations in 2023

88% of companies we consulted placed at least one of the following on their 2023 priority list:

1. Utilise technology to get ahead and remain compliant

• Establish systems to adhere to the current and future tranche of regulations to ensure compliance is done in an efficient manner
• Look to technology to capture, distil and then report to remain compliant
• Acknowledge the use of technology to achieve compliance has been both explicit and implicit from regulators
  - Explicit via recommendations from the Royal Commission regarding expectations as to how the government and providers will be required to work together to deliver superior care outcomes to older Australians
  - The very common referral to the use of technology throughout the recommendations implies that a system such as a Digital Client Management Tool will become an expectation to support data collation and reporting requirements going forward.

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2. Invest in a strategy first, followed by the tools to improve Customer      Experience & Customer Engagement

• For our Home Care participants especially, now that Package and Plan Management caps have been instigated, investing in Customer Engagement technology to differentiate their service against other providers in a tight market
• Use Connective tissue (eg a client facing portal or Digital Client Engagement App) to empower providers to bridge the gap between the care that is being delivered and actively engaging the circle of care to be part of the process.

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3. Harness technology to remain efficient (workforce productivity)

• Revisit existing systems and processes and make the necessary adjustments to keep pace with regulatory change and staffing constraints
• Determine how best to support their workforce to do more in the current tight labour market and integrate technology that can best augment the existing workforce to higher productivity levels
• Acknowledge and trust that their skilled workforce will be able to achieve more as they go through the process of eliminating and streamlining the lion’s share of low value and repetitious tasks.

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Final Remarks

In conclusion, we have done our legwork to see what stages providers are at in their client experience strategies and more specifically their intent and timeframes to adopt a digital client management system.

We still want to hear from you and we also want you to know that you can hear more from us in 2023. It’s going to be a huge year in the Aged care sector and we could not be more excited to work alongside you as the industry experiences an uptick in providers demonstrating their value proposition to their clients via a digital client management tool like Conpago.

If we haven’t touched base already, expect us to reach out in 2023 to see where you’re at and how Conpago could be suitable for your organisation!

If you're on LinkedIn, we'd welcome your connection - Conpago / Ali Galadari. We'll be sharing our full report there in due course.

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Next Steps

Do these learnings resonate? Are those priorities aligned with your organisation goals in 2023?

‍Then we invite you to connect with us. Conpago is here to help. Click here to organise an obligation free strategy and needs assessment session with myself or Michael Agius, Conpago's Operations Manager.

Let us help you with reducing this lowest quartile of labour and allow your staff to solve bigger problems and focus on the value creation within your company by serving your clients to such a high level that your competitors wonder how you do it. Learn more about Conpago's digital customer management system.

May 2023 be your best year yet. Season's greetings.
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Ali (and the Conpago team)