Aged Care facilities adopt ‘world-leading’ digital Deterioration Early Warning System

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Around 125 aged residential care (ARC) facilities across New Zealand will begin implementing the Deterioration Early Warning System (DEWS) from April 2026, with all but one using digitised versions integrated into their resident management systems.

The Health Quality & Safety Commission Te Tāhū Hauora is coordinating the phase one rollout, with staff training and data collection beginning in February and March 2026 and facilities starting integrating  digital DEWS from April.

Nikki Grae, HQSC senior manager quality systems, says the system provides a standardised, evidence-based approach for recognising and responding to acute deterioration in older people living in aged care. 
“This system was co-designed with the ARC sector – is world-leading and unique to New Zealand,” she says.

It is made up of three tools that trigger clinical escalation pathways with automated alerts and notifications to ensure timely interventions.

The Commission is working with RMS vendors to translate the three paper DEWS tools into a digital format. Two of the five main resident management system vendors used in New Zealand have digitised DEWS, and two other vendors are actively developing digital versions.

“The majority of ARC providers use electronic RMS so digital integration of the tools enables DEWS to be embedded into everyday clinical workflows, reducing duplication and supporting consistent use by staff,” says Grae.

“Digitised DEWS will enable a standardised, sustainable process. It allows data collection to be automated and reduces the burden of manual data collection on staff.”

Speaking at Digital Health Week NZ, CEO and founder of Hercules Health Gillian Robinson said the company has completed the digitisation process for DEWS and is awaiting education packages from the commission to support the system's rollout across aged care facilities using its system.

Robinson said this development of DEWS forms part of a broader transformation in aged care from reactive to proactive care delivery.

Data from Hercules Health's system shows more than 67,000 falls have been recorded over the past decade across client facilities, highlighting the scale of adverse events in aged care settings for residents over 65.

The company's new data dashboards enable real-time analysis of incident patterns, allowing clinical teams to identify risk factors and implement preventive measures before injuries occur.

"Data does not make decisions, but it certainly empowers better clinical decisions by the teams," Robinson explained.

"Decisions needed to be informed by live current data, not historic data reported sometime after the event.”

The digitisation of DEWS will create an even richer dataset for preventive care learning, supporting the sector's transition from reactive to proactive care delivery models, Robinson told conference attendees.

Grae says future implementation phases will be planned and facilitated by the Commission to support ARC providers interested in using DEWS over the next two to three years. Phase two and beyond involves the implementation of digital DEWS in facilities as more RMS platforms integrate the tools.

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