CAREFUL in Australian Aged Care

The problem

Aged care coordination in Australia involves multiple independent organisations — residential care facilities, GPs, community pharmacies, hospital geriatric services — with no shared system. Communication defaults to phone calls, faxes and fragmented messages. Medication errors are a persistent safety risk.

What changed

Through a partnership with Leecare (an Australian aged care software vendor), CAREFUL was deployed to coordinate care across five separate healthcare organisations in Melbourne. One GP used the platform to manage 100 elderly patients across all five settings.

Results

Presented as a peer-reviewed poster at the BMJ/IHI International Forum:

• 91% of staff report improved safety
• 97% report improved nurse-doctor communication
• 100 elderly patients across 5 organisations managed by a single GP
• Significant reduction in medication errors through improved pharmacy communication
• Time savings allowing more face-to-face patient contact

What clinicians said

"Over the past 12 months, I have utilised CAREFUL in the care of 100 elderly patients across five different healthcare organisations in Melbourne. Results have been remarkable. Key benefits have been to patient safety — a reduction in serious medication errors — and saving of clinician time through improved communication between healthcare providers."

— Dr Henry Konopnicki, General Practitioner, Melbourne

"If I lost CAREFUL, I would have to reconsider whether I would continue with my clinical work. There is no going back."

— Dr Henry Konopnicki

Why it matters

This deployment demonstrates CAREFUL working across organisational boundaries — not just within a single hospital. The same cross-organisation model applies to NHS integrated care systems, hospital-to-community transitions, and discharge coordination.