Clinical care is moving into the home
In an interview with The Weekly SOURCE, Leecare CEO Caroline Lee says this shift is exposing a growing mismatch between the clinical reality of home care and the software systems many providers still rely on.
Home care is no longer a low-acuity service operating at the margins of the health system. As older people with increasingly complex needs remain at home for longer, providers are being pushed into a hybrid model that combines social support with clinical care, often without the infrastructure traditionally associated with either hospitals or residential aged care.
In an interview with The Weekly SOURCE, Leecare CEO Caroline Lee says this shift is exposing a growing mismatch between the clinical reality of home care and the software systems many providers still rely on.
"Home care now needs to embrace the clinical expectations of an older person whose medical condition requires professional oversight,” Caroline says. “It’s no longer just about services and billing.”
Today’s home care clients are more likely to be living with multiple chronic conditions, cognitive decline or post-hospital care needs. Even where support appears minimal, Lee argues that proper clinical assessment is now non-negotiable.
“Regardless of how minimal a care plan looks, it still requires an initial clinical assessment,” she says. “That’s where primary health professionals come in.”
This shift has significant implications for technology. Legacy systems were largely designed for rostering, invoicing and head office reporting. They were not built to support clinical judgement, identify emerging risks or guide frontline workers operating alone in complex environments.
“Well-intentioned staff don’t always know what they don’t know,” Caroline says. “Software now needs to guide staff to ask the right questions and recognise when something has changed.”
As care becomes more complex, the role of software is evolving from passive record-keeping to active decision support. That is particularly critical in a workforce characterised by high turnover, variable experience and mobile delivery.
Effective systems, Lee argues, must be mobile-first, app-based and accessible in real time, not confined to a desk in head office. Staff need immediate access to care plans, risk information and escalation pathways while they are in clients’ homes, across metro, regional and remote settings.
Rising clinical acuity is also changing the risk profile of home care. Falls, medication issues, undetected deterioration and lone worker safety are now central operational concerns. Families increasingly expect hospital-level vigilance, delivered in the home.
“The expectation is that clinical risk is being monitored and managed, even outside traditional care settings,” Caroline says.
As home care continues to absorb complexity once handled by hospitals and residential care, providers face a critical question: are their systems designed for the care they are now delivering - or the care they used to deliver?
