  The aged care sector in Australia faces significant challenges. While many of
these issues have been clearly identified, their urgency has been further
highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology such as in-home monitoring
is one way to address some of these challenges. However, the efficacy of
technology must be considered together with its implementation and running
costs to ensure that there is a return on investment, and it is economically
viable as a solution. A pilot program was run in-home monitoring system to test
the efficacy of this system. This paper focuses on an economic analysis to
better understand the financial viability of such systems. Using a secondary
analysis approach, the findings identified that revenue could be generated by
providing carers with additional services such as real-time monitoring of the
client, which can foster deeper relationships with the customer, along with
savings of healthcare costs to carers, service providers and Government.
Savings are related to the earlier intervention of critical events that are
identified by the system, as delays in treatment of some critical events can
create much more severe and costly health outcomes. Further health costs
savings can be made via trend analysis which can show more nuanced health
deterioration that is often missed. The implementation of preventative measures
via this identification can reduce the chances of critical events occurring
which have much higher costs. Overall, monitoring systems lead to a transition
from a reactive to a preventative services offering, delivering more targeted
and personalised care.
