After a bit of a delay the Government has agreed to provide support for the use of remote consultations via Telemedicine.
Here is a summary:
GPs finally get telehealth MBS items to tackle coronavirus outbreak
'Vulnerable' patients and those in home quarantine will be eligible for MBS-funded telehealth from Friday
11th March 2020
GPs will have access to MBS-funded phone or online consults for patients in home isolation as part of the Federal Government’s plan to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
With fewer than 48 hours to go before the item is introduced on Friday, key details remain unclear, but Australian Doctor has been told it will have the same rebate as a level B attendance — $38.20.
Again, although there is no official announcement, it is being suggested there will be a requirement for doctors to bulk-bill, to ensure there are no costs to the patients.
The item can also be claimed for vulnerable groups: those aged over 70; people with chronic diseases; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged over 50; those who are immunocompromised; pregnant women; and new parents with babies.
According to a media release from the Prime Minister’s office issued this morning, along with GPs, other specialists and nurses will be able to provide the services.
More here:
Additionally we see some service providers ramping up their capability.
See here:
Australia’s PrimaryClinic and HealthEngine introduce measures to tackle COVID-19
A new update implemented by the Australian federal government will allow doctors, nurses and mental health practitioners to provide telehealth services, such as video conferencing, to people isolated at home due to the coronavirus.
By Dean Koh
March 11, 2020 03:37 AM
Australian GPs using the PrimaryClinic practice management software by software provider Global Health can conduct remote video conference consultations with patients showing symptoms for COVID-19, the company recently announced. Through Global Health’s video-conferencing platform, GPs can screen clients and avoid having them present to the clinic thereby reducing the risk of contamination.
HealthEngine, which is one of Australia’s largest consumer healthcare perform with about 3.6 million visits monthly, is also working on a series of measures to combat COVID-19. This includes the launch of a COVID-19 information portal on its website, COVID-19 triage via its website and app (a guided online survey for patients/people experiencing symptoms or who have been at risk of exposure to complete a self-assessment and guidance on next steps for care), a booking form public service announcement and a telehealth infrastructure at no or low cost for all GP providers to serve their patients.
WHY IT MATTERS
GPs in Australia have long been calling for coronavirus-specific telehealth item numbers to be added to assist with managing the sudden surge of cases across the country. To date, telehealth for GPs was generally available only in remote areas, however to make sure GPs providing telehealth services to coronavirus people are being properly reimbursed, the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items needed to be updated with immediate effect.
More here
And here:
Appointment engines gear up for COVID-19 screening and telehealth
The two major Australian GP appointment engines, HotDoc and HealthEngine, which between them can reach over 10 million patients through their apps, and are used by more than 80% of the country’s GP practices, have both rushed to develop specific modules to their patient-facing apps, which could significantly increase the efficiency of GP practices in managing COVID-19 issues.
Currently many practices are struggling with managing panicked patients who are arriving asking for help, information, and even to be tested, when they are showing no symptoms. One GP The Medical Republic spoke to yesterday described the situation trying to get to the patients who really needed help as mayhem. She described the patient situation as “coronavirus anxiety syndrome”.
HotDoc announced yesterday that it had updated its software to allow patients to pre-screen themselves, self identify according to the new criteria for COVID-19 telehealth consults, and make a telephone-based appointment which could be bulk-billed.
HotDoc founder and CEO Dr Ben Hurst said the new service meany those in self-isolation or who were unable to attend a GP could still obtain proper medical advice.
The HotDoc app enables practices to screen patients for symptoms and epidemiological criteria for COVID-19 at the time a patient is making an online booking, or when confirming a previously booked appointment.
According to HotDoc’s clinical director, Magali De Castro, part of the education process during screening can be set by a practice to redirect a patient to a testing site other than the practice. These include the new fever clinics being established with government funding.
“If clinics are getting overwhelmed [the system] is able to facilitate telehealth appointments for the [new] rebate”, Ms De Castro said.
HealthEngine has also announced a similar suite of updates for its app which it says will be released by the end of this week.
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More information for HotDoc HERE
More information for HealthEngine HERE
More information for BetterConsult HERE
More here:
The way I see this is that these moves are going to have a large number of people become accustomed to remote consultations and become comfortable with using such services for at least some of their care.
This will cause a step change in use I reckon!
David.
I am sure that will be a great comfort to the hundreds housings now losing their jobs.
ReplyDeleteYou told us about your COVID-19 experience, here are the results
ReplyDeleteThe Medical Republic
http://medicalrepublic.com.au/you-told-us-about-your-covid-19-experience-here-are-the-results/25945
"A survey conducted by The Medical Republic reveals most GPs feel unsupported, understaffed and understocked for the crisis unfolding at their clinic doors "
But they do have My Health Record, so all's good.
It's worth looking at the Health Department's "Australian Health Sector Emergency Response Plan for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)"
https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/australian-health-sector-emergency-response-plan-for-novel-coronavirus-covid-19
It's not so much a plan as a discussion of potential issues, principles and a set of guidelines.
Section 6. Communications, is informative
"This chapter provides a guide to communication activities across stakeholders.
A comprehensive communications strategy, implemented across all stages of the outbreak, is a key component of a successful response to a novel coronavirus outbreak. As the presentation of a novel coronavirus outbreak in Australia will inevitably be complex and varied it will be a priority to put in place arrangements to support a consistent, informative message. The communications strategy described in this chapter is designed to reach the broad range of stakeholders involved in and affected by an outbreak, from health authorities and the medical profession, to the public and the media.
Sharing information between those managing the response will enable the coordination of resources, better inform decision makers and provide access to expert guidance on the application of response measures.
Communication with the public, through the media and other sources, will shape the public perception of risk and the way in which the public is engaged in measures to address the novel coronavirus outbreak."
The reality suggests either
a) This docemnet was totally ignored by the rest of government, or
b) was very badly implemented.
The benchmarks are South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore
https://www.wired.com/story/singapore-was-ready-for-covid-19-other-countries-take-note/
If they get a 10, Australia is (IMO) a 4. Or as Kevin Rudd put it:
The government's coronavirus crisis approach is 'go late, go half-measures, and go to Hillsong'
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/16/the-governments-coronavirus-crisis-approach-is-go-late-go-half-measures-and-go-to-hillsong
you mean like this?
ReplyDeletehttps://theconversation.com/our-politicians-are-not-fit-to-oversee-the-coronavirus-response-its-time-they-got-out-of-the-way-134035
According to this:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.smh.com.au/national/it-s-not-magical-pandemic-modeller-demystifies-australia-s-coronavirus-strategy-20200318-p54bfb.html
"Now we are moving to the 'flattening the curve' phase", Professor McVernon said.
a phrase notably absent from the "Emergency Response Plan"
It's also worth noting that the Department of Health has no permanent secretary, Caroline Edwards is Acting Secretary for Health. She's on loan from PM&C.
It’s an omnishambles down there in Canberra.
Seems ADHA is tripping over themselves again. This is an example of why KISS might be a silly acronym but is a valid one. Oh and for further. Amusement click on the role description.
ReplyDeleteWe are currently seeking an experienced Senior Digital Platform Management and Analytics Officer to manage and implement an online integrated digital experience across our public facing Agency digital channels.
Why not just say a web developer of online content publisher. No wonder things are a mess and we are in the middle of a panic.
We are currently seeking an experienced Senior Digital Platform Management and Analytics Officer to manage and implement an online integrated digital experience across our public facing Agency digital channels.
ReplyDeleteForget My Health Record, make sure we have a flashy web site to tell people how good we are.
We are currently seeking an AI capability that can assess multiple factors at a population level to run all future pandemic evaluations.
ReplyDelete@11:12 AM ..... ???? !!!! such opportunistic gold diggers. Their reasoning is that they the tell the Pollies what they're doing to save the nation and they should be able to ask for another truckload of dollars.
ReplyDelete