Australian pain assessment specialist PainChek (ASX:PCK) has met an important 25,000 licensed bed milestone under a $5 million grant agreement with the Federal Government of Australia.
The government initiative is specifically funding the use of the PainChek app for residents living with dementia or cognitive impairment, which represents a significant subset of the 200,000 residents in the Australian Residential Aged Care market.
The PainChek app is a digital health solution that incorporates remote product delivery, on-line training and technical support for all aged care facilities. This delivery model ensures business continuity and falls in line with the revised visitation guidelines and infection control policies in aged care. PainChek has written to all existing and new clients to offer this service.
The milestone triggers a $1.25 million payment to PainChek from the Australian Federal Government. This payment is in addition to the initial $500,000 payment that the company received from the Federal Government in December 2019.
PainChek CEO Philip Daffas says that the Federal Government initiative is designed to provide all residents living with dementia with universal access to PainChek so they can receive the best care for them and their families.
Of the more than 44,000 total approved beds under PainChek license, there are now more than 25,000 beds licensed and funded through this Federal Government initiative,” Mr Daffas said.
“These licenses will be used by more than 140 Australian Aged Care Providers and 500 Residential Aged Care facilities to allow their residents to gain access to the PainChek technology.
“Our immediate goal in 2020 is to provide access to PainChek for the 100,000 aged care residents living with dementia and cognitive impairment across aged care facilities in Australia as part of this federal government initiative.
“We continue to work with our clients and the department of health to deliver best practice pain assessment for these vulnerable people during this difficult period.
“We have the capability to deliver our full product and support services remotely and have already moved to this model for a number of our clients. This is one of the benefits of being a digital health technology.
“Our goal is to ensure all residents who need access to PainChek can benefit and we are well on our way to achieve this and make PainChek the global gold standard for pain assessment and management in aged care,” Mr Daffas said.
