Expanding telehealth utilisation in a national aeromedical service

Presenters:

• Professor Len Gray, Centre for Health Services Research, UQ 
• Dr Melinda Martin-Khan, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health Services Research
• Dr Joanna Kho, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UQ Business School
• Dr Lara Bishop, Director Research & Projects, Royal Flying Doctor Service

Overview:

The delivery of primary health care (PHC) services to remote and rural communities is a global challenge due to distance and cost. Limited access to health services is thought to contribute to higher morbidity and lower life expectancy for rural Australians. A national aeromedical service provider approached the Centre for Health Services Research (CHSR) seeking advice on how to re-engineer its primary care delivery service to improve its response time and access to services.

The project aimed to identify the extent to which traditional fly-in fly-out (FIFO) primary care consultations can be supplemented and enhanced by telehealth consultations. A telehealth model for primary care was introduced with a focus on increasing access. Uptake was mixed across the implementation sites for a number of reasons. The presentation will discuss the intial results of the study, outline a brief summary of the barriers and enablers that were identified from analysing the implementation and adoption process, and provide a ‘Next Steps’ perspective from our industry partner.

Do not hesitate to circulate the forum details to colleagues who could be interested. For more information, please contact the CRE in Telehealth team.

Join via Zoom ID 992-685-911

For PA Hospital attendees, join us for lunch at 12.00 and attend via Zoom in Seminar Room 2007, Translational Research Institute, PA Hospital Campus.