Australia’s health and aged care systems can be improved in many ways by technology, including the Internet of Things (IoT).

Medication storage is a major issue that Extranet Systems​ addresses for aged care communities in several Australian states. All these communities’ facilities need to monitor and safely store medicines according to strict regulations and standards.

To address these challenges, Extranet Systems, as the main distributor for Milesight, developed an IoT sensor network using LoRaWAN networking. This includes the automatic identification of accidental power outages or unexpected temperature spikes that threatened stored medicines. The sensor network also creates an automatic alert to relevant personnel to act immediately.

Implementing monitoring in Australian aged care using IoT

Degrees of care required vary significantly, with some residents cared for around the clock, while others prefer to be as independent as possible. General monitoring includes sensors which register, for example, that residents are getting out of bed, opening the fridge, or using the toilet. Alarms are activated if residents register no activity.

Multiple new workflows also needed to be implemented. An existing eight-hour manual reporting window (resulting from lack of staff) was replaced with constant automated monitoring. Implementation of real-time automated alerts and solutions to paper-based workflows were also required.

Extranet Systems determined that LoRaWAN was ideal to address these issues due to its long-term reliability, quality, cost, power consumption, and distance coverage.

The project involved more than 30 aged care facilities, which varied considerably in size, across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT. The project also offered other types of monitoring, including monitoring and alerts of harmful gases inside care facilities.

What else does Extranet Systems offer to IoT industries?

Extranet Systems’ expertise with aged care networks extends into healthcare verticals and uses such technologies as ExSalus; an Amazon Alexa-based application which acts as a virtual nurse in tasks such as medicine administration.

Extranet Systems also caters to the agricultural sector, smart cities, and other industries. The company’s services include: backups, disaster recovery, cloud services, network deployment (LAN and WAN), infrastructure, PC virtualisation, cybersecurity, unified communications, and software development.

In addition, Extranet Systems offers accompanying consulting and support services.

Learn more by visiting the Extranet Systems web site.

Extranet Systems was a sponsor of IoT Alliance Australia’s and IoT Hub's IoT Impact conference on June 9.