‘With AVA, our carers now have certainty of income’

WINNER

AVA – THE ACCESS VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Access Community Health
Hauora Tara-Ā-Whare

Managing contracts across 20 DHBs, all with different contracting requirements for their carers and support workers, was complex and difficult for Access Community Health Hauora Tara-Ā-Whare.

To address that, the Access Virtual Assistant (AVA) application was developed. The app removes the need for manual time sheets, and gives funding transparency, payment certainty for carers, as well as live information for carers and their clients.

Access Community Health has a long history of strong, proud women caring for people in the community. The bush nurses, as they were called in the 1920s, were members of the Women’s Division of the Federated Farmers.

Keeping that tradition alive and well today, Access Community Health is a network of 3000 support workers visiting over 42,000 people of all ages, and providing over three million visits a year.

The app is a game changer and allows a carer to call up their roster for the day and see where they are going, who they are seeing and what care or tasks they will be providing.

“We can also see how much time it took for the carer to get there and how long they were with their client, so we can work out how much they will get paid. They simply log in when they

arrive and log out when they leave,” Access Community Health chief operating officer Androulla Kotrotsos says.

“Most of our people need help, and one day it could take an hour to shower someone and another day it could be one and a half hours. Managing this was a logistical nightmare in terms of pay and, with AVA, our carers now have certainty of income,” Mrs Kotrotsos says.

“AVA also gives clients certainty, they can see who is coming, when they are due and they can easily contact the call centre if someone doesn’t show up. Clients can visually see who is coming to them. These people have lives and jobs, and they rely on us to make that happen for them.”

It also means Access Community Health can reach carers rapidly if something has changed, such as a traffic accident, flooding, or armed offenders callout. Carers will receive a message advising them what to do next.

“This proved especially helpful during COVID-19 lockdown. Information was changing rapidly, and if we found out they were going to a COVID home, we could let them know quickly not to go. We had to get that information out really fast,” Mrs Kotrotsos says.

Judges' comments:

Multiple complexities have been solved and care for whanau improved. Great work!

FINALIST

BETTR BY FAR – EXPLORING A NEW FRONTIER IN HEALTHCARE
Tāmaki Health

A NEW WAY OF DELIVERING primary healthcare is taking shape with the digital platform bettr.co.nz

The web-based app was rolled out during COVID-19 lockdown by Tāmaki Health, New Zealand’s largest independent primary healthcare group serving over 275,000 patients.

Bettr technology allows patients to book video appointments with a Local Doctors GP, for a low fee; appointments are $10 for registered patients and $49 for casuals.

Tāmaki Health chief operating officer Josh Stent says enabling patients to be seen virtually has been transformational for many.

“For example, it has made it much easier to access primary care for people living in remote areas or for busy parents, or those who can’t afford transport to a clinic,” he says.

Bettr is also addressing the issue of equity with Māori and Pacific patients.

“There was concern these patients couldn’t access digital technology, but it’s simply not true. The majority of people using the app are Māori, Pacific or from the most deprived areas. Month by month the service is growing,” Mr Stent says.

He adds that Tāmaki Health has big plans for the system, to make it easier for people to manage their own healthcare.

Judges' comments:

Telehealth came with a bang once COVID hit. Great to see a very good implementation to make sure this carries on after COVID. Well done!

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