Third Age Health, New Zealand’s leader in health services for aged residential care facilities, has partnered with
collaboration technology provider Celo, to support their clinical workforce in preparation for a likely widespread
Omicron outbreak.
Third Age Health Medical Director Dr Peter Zink said, “Patient safety in aged residential care is super important and
with a widespread Omicron outbreak likely in the coming weeks we want to be prepared. Celo will enable all our
clinicians to communicate in a secure way if they need to discuss a patient’s needs or provide handover.
Being able to collaborate via one secure app, on our phone, without risking patient privacy will be crucial when we need
to find cover quickly should colleagues test positive and need to isolate.
As clinician’s we’re all suffering from email fatigue, so I see huge benefit in being able to quickly touch base with a
colleague without having to fire up the laptop and log into my email. We’re hoping this sort of technology will enable
us to operate more seamlessly when we are under pressure.”
Using the secure Celo collaboration tool Third Age Health GPs and Nurse Practitioners across the country can engage with
each other quickly regarding clinical issues, do patient handovers when someone is covering a round or seek a second
opinion regarding patient care.
Tony Wai, Third Age Health CEO comments, “We’ve seen from COVID outbreaks overseas that we are likely to have
significant workforce pressures, particularly if clinician’s need to isolate.
We’ve committed to being as innovative as we can in finding technology solutions to help our clinician’s feel supported
and safe in their work. Celo was an obvious choice because it’s ready to go as a complete solution, it doesn’t require
any lengthy development or set up, it’s locally owned and we could implement it quickly.
Off the back of a successful partnership, we can see further application for this smart technology in the work we do in
Age Residential Care to improve patient safety and continuity of care whilst at the same time support collaboration and
communication for our clinicians.”
Steve Vlok, Celo CEO says, “We’re very excited to be partnering with Third Age Health, at a time where communication is
without a doubt the most important tool in a healthcare organisations response to COVID-19. I’m particularly impressed
with the foresight of Third Age Health to move quickly and implement Celo across the organisation in preparation for the
NZ Omicron surge. This decision will be hugely beneficial for their health workforce and patients, something we have
witnessed first-hand across our customer base in the US and UK.”