The CRE in Telehealth concluded in September 2019. Description of work below is not current.

Over 150,000 older Australians live in government subsidised residential aged care facilities (RACFs). This population has a high level of disability and unstable health status. Access to specialist service providers is constrained by the:

  • inability of the resident to travel,
  • high cost of providing an escort, 
  • intermittent nature of demand for specialist services in aged care facilities 

The MBS now includes item numbers to facilitate video-consultation into RACFs, yet to date very few working models have been developed. There are also no robust evaluations beyond single disease or syndrome consultations. 

The CRE aims to improve the use of video-consultation into RACFs to:

  • Avoid the stress of travel for an older person
  • Reduce the costs by reducing the need for an escort
  • Offer specialist services as needed

With the limited resources, inevitable population ageing and minimal growth in the workforce, telehealth can be of benefit to people living in RACFs.