The Problem with Over-Reliance on Portals
Customer portals are often positioned as the solution to client engagement in aged care. They provide a structured, self-service experience, offering families and clients access to care schedules, documents, and updates. But there’s a problem—they don’t reach enough of the aged care population to be truly effective.
Despite their potential, portals alone have limited adoption. Data shows that on average, only 45% of people use portals regularly—leaving a majority of clients still relying on traditional communication channels like telephone and SMS.
For aged care providers, this gap creates a disconnect between operational goals and reality. While portals alone may reduce administrative workload for tech-savvy users, they fail to address the full spectrum of client needs, especially for elderly Australians who are less likely to engage with digital tools. Solutions must look more widely.
What the Data Tells Us: People Still Prefer Phone & SMS
Recent insights from aged care providers show that:
📞 99% of clients and families still use telephone communication as their primary channel.
📱 60-75% of communication happens over SMS, particularly for scheduling and service updates.
📩 Only 25% of family members actively use email for communication with care providers.
With this, the challenge is then, how do we bring all of this together?
Why Portals Don’t Work for Everyone:
🔹 Limited adoption – With less than half of clients using portals, a huge portion of the population is left out of the communication loop.
🔹 Elderly clients prefer phone & SMS – Many don’t regularly use smartphones or computers, making self-service portals ineffective for real-time coordination.
🔹 Care-related updates need immediate action – Scheduling changes, service adjustments, and incident reports require real-time, proactive communication—something portals alone can’t deliver.
🔹 Support teams still get inbound calls – Even when portals are available, clients and families still default to calling care teams for reassurance, updates, and urgent matters.
Real-Time Communication: The Key to Better Care
The reality is that effective aged care communication is not about a single portal—it’s about ensuring seamless, real-time access to information from multiple systems. A true solution must integrate with care management platforms, scheduling tools, and direct communication channels to create a proactive and responsive communication network. It needs to bring the various methods of communication together in one place easily, in a way thats designed for care.
What Works Instead?
✅ Real-time, proactive outbound & inbound communication – Ensuring that clients and families receive timely updates via their preferred channels (SMS, phone, or app notifications).
✅ Multi-channel engagement – Supporting a mix of phone, SMS, email, and in-app messaging so clients aren’t forced to rely on a single platform.
✅ Automated yet personal interactions – Using intelligent automation to notify clients about schedule changes while keeping human support available for complex needs.
✅ Seamless integration with other systems – Aged care communication isn’t just about messages—it’s about ensuring that real-time scheduling changes, care updates, and service modifications are instantly reflected across all relevant systems.
✅ Listening to clients, not just broadcasting updates – Portals provide information, but effective communication means understanding client needs, responding in real-time, and offering reassurance when needed.
At Hayylo we have focused on these principles and support tens of thousands of clients across Australia, reaching further, and enabling teams to do more efficiently. The Hayylo platform brings all of the above together easily, allowing teams to reach their clients in ways they prefer.
Why Investing in Better Communication Matters
Aged care is built on trust, relationships, and support—not just transactions. While portals are useful tools, they don’t replace the need for high-quality, real-time client engagement.
Providers that focus on proactive, real-time communication will:
🚀 Reduce inbound phone calls by 45% through automated updates and SMS confirmations.
📉 Lower operational costs by reducing administrative workload caused by repetitive client inquiries.
💬 Improve client and family experience by ensuring they feel heard, valued, and informed—without needing to navigate a portal.
🔄 Ensure real-time coordination between care teams and clients by integrating scheduling, rostering, and messaging systems.
The Future of Aged Care Communication
Portals will always have a role, but they alone are not the only answer to real-time, proactive care communication. The winning approach is investing in accessible, multi-channel communication that meets clients where they are—ensuring care is coordinated, seamless, and stress-free. Hayylo is the leading multi channel communications platform that streamlines communication across the most used and valuable channels across aged care.
Want to see how leading providers are considering real-time client communication and how it transforms operations? Reach out to our team for a chat.
