Spotto Blog

Case Study: Optimising the aged care experience with real-time equipment tracking

Read how a forward-thinking aged care provider adopted low-cost Bluetooth equipment tracking technology for a better resident experience.

Photo of an aged care resident playing with a smiling grand child
Alan Williams

In the words of John Zammit – Property Services Partner at Maroba aged care, “If there are things we can do that can give our residents and their families comfort and peace of mind knowing that we can quickly deal with an emergency, then we try to do them. That means things like implementing Spotto equipment and asset tracking so that staff don’t need to go searching for the lifter they need — because they’ll know exactly where the nearest one is in the time it takes to type the name in Spotto. These are game changers for our residents, and our staff alike”

To hear John speak about how they never want to leave a resident in distress after a fall hammers home the most tangible benefit of asset visibility in aged care.  

Maroba, a facility of 160 residents spread over four large buildings near the centre of Newcastle New South Wales, has consistently adapted and innovated to provide the best care they can, embracing technologies that make sense whilst being acutely aware that cost of new forward-thinking tools is a concern.

When Viv Allenson, Maroba’s much awarded CEO, learned about Spotto’s elegant and cost-effective solution for asset visibility she was enthused to just give it a go. Alongside the ability to respond to emergencies, Spotto would allow Maroba’s staff to spend more time on the core part of the organisation — resident comfort and care — and substantially less time wasted on searching for equipment. And with the ongoing challenges of staffing since COVID, every moment wasted can mean a resident not receiving care. With Spotto installed on every workstation around the four buildings, and on staff mobiles there’s never the need to send out search parties.

Staff and patients aren’t the only ones benefiting from real-time asset visibility. John highlights, “Spotto’s made maintenance visits from our suppliers more streamlined too. They can go straight to the equipment they’re tasked with without having to locate it by sight around all four buildings. When there are several bits of equipment — that search can take quite a while and we end up bearing the added cost of that visit.”

A few years ago real time tracking systems were just out of the price range of Aged Care facilities, but Spotto’s lightweight approach and use of cloud computing services has meant that Maroba can tailor the solution to their needs without having to rely on external technical services and expensive specialists. Even adding or moving readers to detect equipment in a new zone is well within the capabilities of Maroba’s own staff.

John puts it very simply, “Now that we can offer these services without breaking the bank, why wouldn’t we? Our residents deserve the best care we can provide and Spotto is another of those technologies that helps us do just that.”



To see Spotto in action for yourself, try the free simulator