A French e-health project that aims to improve homecare management is to use near-field communication technology to provide real time management of assistance.

The Confiance project will see a French public authority consortium equip caregivers with NFC-enabled smartphones to improve their home care visits.

The consortium is led by Docapost BPO, a digital transactions company owned by French postal service La Poste, and the e-health project is being funded by the French Ministry of Industry.

Near-field communication (NFC) devices like smartphones can connect with other NFC-equipped devices and collect data by touching or being in close proximity. 

Under the Confiance project, caregivers for the dependent living at home, and in particular the elderly, will be able to quickly update administrative, financial and other management records.

Information is then stored digitally and can be transmitted to their central office with the idea being that this will save time as well as reducing the risk of administrative errors.

There are 1.16 million dependent elderly in France, of which 61 per cent live at home, and the number living at home is expected to double by 2050, according to French government figures.

Caregivers around France will be equipped with smartphones developed with NFC technology from Aix-en-Provance company Inside Secure. They will use these NFC-enabled smartphones to “facilitate the real time management of home care assistance”, the company said.