Aged-care facilities must have effective infection control procedures in place to ensure the safety of residents. The devastating effects of COVID-19 on Australia’s aged-care community have highlighted that current methods of preventing and controlling infection are insufficient for guarding against new threats.
Lack of Government funding and support, as well as insufficient staffing levels, made it difficult for aged-care facilities to pivot and protect against the spread of COVID-19. Investing in technology that removes some of the burden from staff and allows for a targeted, data-driven approach to controlling against infection hazards in aged care will be vital in moving through the COVID-19 pandemic.
What Is An Interactive Customer Experience Platform?
An Interactive Customer Experience Platform (ICXP) is a proprietary technology designed By BIC Services to bring a customer-centric approach to cleaning and hygiene service delivery. The technology works via a combination of Customer Experience Kiosks (tablets), wearable devices (smartwatches), smartphones, Bluetooth Beacons, people counters and a range of IoT sensors.
Facility staff and residents can use the Customer Experience Kiosks to make service requests or report issues, and the closest service team member will be alerted via a wearable or smartphone. Facility staff and residents can also use the Customer Experience Kiosks to rate the performance of the cleaning team.
How ICXP Can Be Used For Infection Control In Aged-Care
We designed ICXP to improve service delivery and add depth to performance reporting. The onset of COVID-19 meant the technology was quickly adapted.
The Bluetooth Beacons and IoT Sensors were designed to make service more efficient and cost-effective, and we have already seen results at our CBRE Place Management contract. The contract involves providing environmental services for a large-scale, public precinct area and the sensor technology helps track service teams, as well as building asset usage profiles with heat mapping technology.
Building these asset profiles ensures areas are appropriately serviced, instead of creating inefficiencies by over or under servicing areas. Tracking technology means management can monitor how service teams move through the areas and tweak service routes to ensure areas are being cleaned and disinfected either side of high-use periods.
In the graphic above, tracking data has allowed us to identify periods of high-use (by foot traffic through an area) and compare this against service levels (by cleaner movement). This visualisation allows management to identify areas that are being underserviced and find cost-savings by reallocating services from areas that are being over-serviced.
The same technology can be applied to aged-care facilities as a means of improving infection control procedures without adding to service costs. For example, service teams can use data to identify when specific areas of the facility are used most and focus infection control efforts in those areas to minimise spread.
The tracking technology can also be used to log pandemic events and potential infections. Facility staff can immediately notify cleaning teams so they can rapidly attend and disinfect the affected area.
Reducing infection response time is crucial in safeguarding aged-care facilities. ICXP achieves this while also allowing aged-care facilities to enjoy a more efficient, targeted and cost-effective cleaning and hygiene service.
Learn more about BIC’s Interactive Customer Experience Platform and get in touch to organise a free demo.
Or, learn more about our capabilities in aged and healthcare cleaning.
