N.S. signs $19M contract for home-care software
CBC
Publicly funded home-care providers in Nova Scotia will all move to the same software platform and be linked to the provincial health authority by 2027, a move the province’s seniors and long-term care minister says will result in better service for clients and their families and improved working conditions for people in the sector.
Last month, the province announced a five-year, $19-million contract with AlayaCare Inc. to design and implement the platform. Davis Pier, a company that previously received a $2-million contract from the province, will help with implementing the system, something the two companies have already done in P.E.I.
Among other things, the software acts as a clearing house for client information and care plans and co-ordinates schedules for visits by front-line staff.
“It’s a massive undertaking to connect 15 home-care agencies with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, with 40,000 clients, with thousands of home-care providers who are all going to have to be trained on a brand new system,” Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Barbara Adams said in a recent interview.
“It’s a major transformation.”
Adams said AlayaCare was selected in part because it’s already being used by some home-care agencies, which should make for a smoother transition as other providers and the health authority's continuing care branch are also connected, and because officials have been able to see how it performs in other provinces.
When that transformation is complete, Adams said it will help reduce the administrative burden care providers face when they’re in the field, allow for better communication with clients and their families about care plans and appointments, and address scheduling concerns when appointments get cancelled.
“And then as the government, we’re going to be able to see those changes and we’ll be able to make better decisions moving forward.”
Although the contract with AlayaCare was announced in December, the deal was signed off on in October, according to the province’s alternative procurement site. That’s around the same time the contract with Davis Pier, which was also untendered, was announced.
When it’s fully in place, Adams said she expects the system will provide better care, experience fewer cancelled appointments, create a better understanding of care plans for clients and their families, and provide more support for front-line staff when they’re working in the field.
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