Aged care new customer experience benchmark: How a data management strategy is essential to success.

AGED CARE’S NEW CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE BENCHMARKHOW A DATA MANAGEMENT STRATEGY IS ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS.

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Aged care’s new customer experience benchmark. How a data management strategy is essential to success.

Not only is the new wave of customers more demanding, socially connected and technologically savvy, they are also given greater flexibility and choice to the type of care they receive. As such, the aged care customer experience benchmark has shifted, and the bar will continue to rise. In the aged care sector, like in many industries, it is likely that the customer experience battlefield is where competition will intensify. Data will serve as the foundation towards providing a personalised level of care and better customer experience. It is data that will be transformed into information which powers the knowledge and insights which will enable aged care service providers to make informed decisions and continue to innovate.

Data will serve as the foundation towards providing a personalised level of care and a better customer experience. It is data that - when transformed into useable

information - powers the knowledge and insights which will enable aged care service providers to make better decisions and continue to innovate.

Aged care data needs are expected to grow exponentially as the industry responds to market pressures and undergoes its digital transformation. The issue is beyond just data storage - it is about having fast, secure access to customer data, the capability to present it in a unified view, and to seamlessly transform it into information that powers better decision-making.

In this paper, we discuss the new customer experience benchmark for aged care, consider its impact on data needs and explore a future-ready data management approach – one that will serve as a critical cornerstone of a highly-engaged aged care service provider.

The aged care sector is entering into a whole new world. The rate of change – from multiple disruptors – is well known within the industry and has been the topic of community discussion and media coverage. But it is the changing face of the aged care customers, both care recipients and their families, that is arguably the biggest change agent today.

There are many parallel forces shaping the future of the aged care industry. The boom in demand for aged care services, implementation of the Consumer Directed Care (CDC) initiative in Australia, changes in government funding policies, and the continuous evolving technological advancements – they are all fuelling the rate of change and are challenging enough to manage on their own.

But it is the new wave of the aged care customer that is at the heart of the industry’s transformation – and it is the key driver of the change in process, technology and people.

The baby boomer generation is generally much more technologically savvy, socially connected and well informed. But when making a decision on the type of care services they will like to receive, they won’t be on their own – their family members will play an important role in the decision-making process and they will have their own set of expectations.

The biggest challenge for aged care providers is to balance the focus on maintaining quality care for existing clients while getting ready to challenge the competition through new customer-centric models of engagement.


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CATERING FOR A WHOLE NEW WORLD —AN INDUSTRY UNDER TRANSFORMATION

A NEW CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE BENCHMARK FOR AGED CARE

Today, aged care customers are very much in control. In fact, like many industries where competition is fierce and customers are given more options to evaluate, an exceptional customer experience will be one of the most powerful sources of sustained competitive advantage.

While quality of care has always been a focus, it takes on a whole different meaning in the context of a highly personalised environment that both the care recipients and their families now demand.

To remain competitive, aged care service providers must:

• Tailor to the needs of the individual. A one to many approach will not suffice. It is only by identifying the needs of individual care recipients can service providers deliver the level of personalisation that is now expected. This ranges from specific dietary requirements to what virtual reality experiences they will enjoy – and everything in between.

• Enable self-service access to personal information. Care recipients and their families will expect on-demand access to their health data – blood pressure, heart rate, sugar levels, pathology results, among others. They will want to interact and manage this and other information securely online - including billing and financial information and personal preferences.

• Commit to ongoing enhancements of services. Expectations from both care recipients and their families will continue to evolve. They are well informed, with more options available to them than ever before. As new technology emerges, the expectation will be that it is incorporated into the modern aged care environment.

The ability to drive engagement and an emotional connection will make customer experience the driving force for loyalty and differentiation for any aged care organisation. Without a sound data management approach – and therefore a sound foundation that informs the level of personalisation expected - this will not be possible.

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EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS POWERED BY DATA

Care recipient data is an invaluable asset for any aged care provider. It is the basis on which an exceptional customer experience is built and maintained. Data – when transformed into useable information – enables aged care providers to define, understand and continue to engage on a highly personalised level with customers and prospects, and supports insightful decisions on care service delivery.

As the needs of the aged care sector and its customers continue to evolve, and more service providers embark on their digital transformation journey, the volume of data processed will continue to grow - and with it, new challenges around data management. The source of this data will be increasingly disparate, often resulting in a lack of control and difficulties in moving data across systems and platforms.

To overcome these challenges, aged care service providers need to explore a new data management approach.

DATA MANAGEMENT: A KEY COMPONENT OF AN AGED CARE STRATEGY

In a world where data is inundating every organisation and individual, the ability to manage it becomes highly important. An aged care service provider’s ability to compete hinges on many factors including, most importantly – leveraging customer data to meet and exceed the new customer experience benchmark.

The aged care sector is a data and information rich environment. As such, a data management strategy needs to be a key consideration in an aged care service provider’s overall strategy and planning process. But this issue is greater than just storage, it is about managing data sprawl and beyond. Efficient data management needs to support multi-disciplinary aged care services and other core organisational functions, including financial management, communications and much more.


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A customer relationship management (CRM) system is an essential business tool in any business – particularly in personal care based industry such as aged care. And it is sometimes viewed as the solution to all customer data challenges. But a CRM is just one piece of the puzzle – the customer data that is at the centre of an exceptional customer experience needs to be free flowing between all applications that contribute to it and that are relying on it. These include clinical, marketing, catering, entertainment, therapy and other wellbeing systems and applications.

Data management needs to focus on how an organisation can share, store, protect and manage data and information, and how to leverage it in the best possible way. An effective data management strategy must enable:

• Data integration: ability to share data across different functions, including processes to combine data from disparate sources.

• Data on demand: having fast, secure access to the growing volume of data from different sources and of varied structure and format.

• Access from any application and any device: whether on premise, in the cloud or a hybrid environment, data needs to be easily accessible where it is required.

• A single point of management: enabling a single source of truth and a single point of management and control in a consistent way.

A FUTURE-READY DATA MANAGEMENT APPROACH

A data management approach for the new world of aged care is built on the concept of a centrally managed data framework that enables data to be accessible where it is needed. Data may reside in various locations and mixed environments - which can include flash storage, disk or in the cloud - but it should be connected, mined and controlled. This can be done through a piece of software that knits it all together, forming the foundation of a future-ready data management approach for any aged care service provider.

By seamlessly connecting different environments, a data management approach and vision – such as NetApp’s data fabric - can unify data management across distributed resources to allow consistency and control of data mobility, security, visibility, protection and access. It allows aged care service providers to respond and innovate more quickly because data, regardless of where it resides will be much more accessible where it is needed. Providers will also be able to realise the full potential of their technology environments, leveraging available data to make the best decisions for customers.

In an aged care environment, all the customer data gathered from various digital touchpoints – whether it is clinical, catering, entertainment or financial systems or applications – would be accessible from a mix of these or other applications as required.

For example, a care recipient can use one application to order from a personalised menu of services, products or experiences – whether it is a meal, a hair appointment or a virtual excursion. This one application would reference and update multiple databases, including dietary requirements, ‘excursion’ preferences and his or her account.

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This means fast and personalised service delivery for the care recipient, while the aged care provider can aggregate data and information to make informed decisions and raise the bar for quality of care.

A data management architecture that is built on the concept of centrally managed, free flowing data will help aged care service providers to:

• Mould the data to gain the insights required. Define, understand and continue to build a clear understanding of prospects and customers. Provide a truly personalised service and use data to capture trends and provide proactive care. A mix of applications can be used to do so but they will all leverage the same information – when they need it and in a way they can use it.

• Enjoy the flexibility to choose the environment. Have the freedom to choose the applications, delivery methods and storage platforms that work best for the organisation. Experiment and be free to make a change when it is required – the data is retained and easily accessible in the updated ecosystem.

MPLS

DATA FABRIC

INTERNET

FIREWALL

CLIENTSITE A

CLIENTSITE B

Production

Applications

Backup and DR

NEXON ABC

NEXON ABC

AWS

AZURE

NEXON MANAGED SERVICES

AWS

AZURE

SERVICE DELIVERY SERVICE DESK PROFESSIONALSERVICES

Nexon helps customers to realise the full potential of their hybrid cloud and make the best decisions for their business.

A USE CASE FOR UNIFYING DATA ACROSS DISTRIBUTED RESOURCES


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• Leverage real-time analytics for informed decision-making. Connect disparate parts of business operations for analysis to make informed decisions, quickly. For example, resident fall rates are on the increase in a high-care facility - what do these residents have in common and how can this be avoided in the future? The data can help understand and, through real-time analytics, predict and avoid undesirable events.

• Retain control of a key business asset. Control how data could be managed, secured and moved through one central application. The efficiencies and peace of mind gained are considerable. Data protection policies can be deployed against the one data management platform – even if the data resides in different locations. There is no need for multiple back-up and disaster recovery arrangements.

The promise of NetApp’s data fabric approach allows seamless management of data as it flows to wherever it is needed most. It offers control over an organisation’s data while equipped with enough flexibility to enable innovation.

NETAPP’S DATA FABRICA DATA MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE DELIVERING:

CONSISTENCY Maintain visibility and manage data across different environments, regardless of where it resides

SECURITY Maintain data integrity and availability: control how you manage, secure and move your data through one central application

ACCESS Data flows across applications, platforms and devices, to where it is needed, and in a format in which it can be used

MOBILITY Move the data across cloud platforms and applications with ease

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To find out more about our data management solutions, call us at 1300 800 000, email us at [email protected] or visit nexonabc.com.au/aged-care-solutions/

NEXON AND NETAPPThe freedom and flexibility of data fabric is not just limited to the enterprise space. The technology that brings the data fabric strategy to life is accessible to organisations of all sizes through a scalable, flexible model – as brought to you by Nexon and NetApp.

Such technology will allow aged care providers to optimise their client data no matter where it resides – providing fast, secure and reliable access, when and where they need it.

NetApp is a leading provider of future-ready data storage and management solutions. It provides powerful and flexible storage options and delivers on the data fabric concept with its ONTAP data management software. ONTAP connects new and traditional data centres and enables you to move your data to where it is needed.

Nexon is an Australian cloud and managed service provider. Nexon Agile Business Cloud (ABC) is a dynamic, cloud-based ICT infrastructure platform that enables you to manage, consume and deploy technology through a flexible, pay-as-you-go managed service model.

Nexon ABC is built in partnership with the world’s leading vendors – including NetApp – and delivers enterprise-grade technology to organisations of all sizes.

ESTABLISH YOUR FUTURE-READY DATA MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.

Contact us to discuss your data storage and management needs, and to see what a data fabric solution can mean for your business.

Aged care new customer experience benchmark: How a data management strategy is essential to success.

Technology