Quote Of The Year

Timeless Quotes - Sadly The Late Paul Shetler - "Its not Your Health Record it's a Government Record Of Your Health Information"

or

H. L. Mencken - "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

It Seems The Moves Towards More Virtual Care Offerings Are Really Coming Thick And Fast.

I seem to be noticing many different stories on this recently.

First we had this:

About 80% of emergency patients avoided hospital admission in SA Virtual Care Service trial

The service is now being rolled out in more than 120 residential aged care facilities.

By Adam Ang

October 11, 2022 04:00 AM

SA Health has started rolling out its virtual care programme to over 120 residential care facilities in the state.

This follows a trial in 11 aged care homes operated by Eldercare since early last year.

In partnership with SA Ambulance Service, regional hospitals and aged care facilities, the SA Virtual Care Service (SAVCS) provides an individualised assessment service via video link for urgent patients on scene with responders. 

Responders can turn to senior and specialist medical clinicians for help via video on an electronic tablet to assess, monitor, and determine the most appropriate and safe options for emergency patients.

WHY IT MATTERS

The SAVCS pathway brings the expertise of clinical teams that is normally only available in the ED to the patient's home. 

During its trial, about 70% of SAVCS patients avoided ED admissions and unnecessary triple-zero calls and instead received immediate care in place.

"The [SAVCS] is an easily accessible healthcare service to avoid hospital transfers for aged care residents," said Samantha Miller, court site operations manager at Eldercare Acacia.

The virtual service also reduces hospital emergency presentations, and thus reserves precious hospital resources for those who critically need them.

SA Health expects the service to benefit around 10,000 aged care residents across the state. 

More here:

https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/about-80-emergency-patients-avoided-hospital-admission-sa-virtual-care-service-trial

Then there was this:

New Digital Health Command to rise in Victoria

It is part of the Victorian government's latest hospital infrastructure project.

By Adam Ang

October 06, 2022

01:54 AM

A new Digital Health Command will be established in Victoria as part of the state government's latest hospital infrastructure project.

According to a media release, this facility will enable the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) and Royal Women’s Hospital (RWH) to support regional, rural and smaller metropolitan services that care for patients locally through virtual care and specialist clinician-to-clinician consultation. This in turn will streamline patient flow and improve access to specialist services across Victoria.

It will also monitor health outcomes, providing data to support future clinical trials and the development of new medical technology.

The University of Melbourne was tapped to co-design the Digital Health Command, which is also being built as part of the redevelopment of the adjoining Parkville precinct.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

On Monday, the Victorian government announced its biggest hospital infrastructure project, beginning with a A$5-6 billion (around $3.5 billion) upgrade and expansion of hospitals and research facilities at Arden and Parkville.

New campuses at Arden will be centres for elective surgery, outpatient treatment, clinical trials, rehabilitation and low-risk women’s healthcare services while the redeveloped Parkville sites will focus on emergency, trauma and acute care. They are expected to deliver more than 1,800 beds and treatment spaces; additional 10,500 elective procedures through eight new theatres at RMH; and 2,500 more births at RWH. About 1,000 more patients are also expected to receive critical care on the new campuses.

Additionally, the redevelopment will also include a new dedicated Clinical Trials Centre with additional research space at Arden and training facilities to support the next generation of healthcare workers.

More here:

https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/anz/new-digital-health-command-rise-victoria

And lastly I noticed this:

Request for Information - Remote Patient Monitoring
Issued by eHealth Procurement

Section 1       Tender Overview

 

Queensland Health invites submissions in relation to a Request for Information (RFI) for Remote Patient Monitoring solution, as specified in the ICT10146 Request for Information, Section 3 - Requirements. The purpose of this RFI is to further research and investigate options for improving virtual care solution.

Queensland Health seeks a solution that can access, exchange, integrate and cooperatively use data in a coordinated manner, within and across Hospital and Health Services (HHSs), regional and state boundaries, to provide timely and seamless portability of information and optimise the health of individuals and population more generally.

For the avoidance of doubt, this Request for Information process is a market research activity.

Submission Requirements:

The Supplier’s Response Schedule (Section 5) of the attached ICT10146 Request for Information document,  must be completed and returned with the submission. 

When responding to this RFI, submissions must be through the QTenders website. Questions and clarifications about this RFI can be submitted via email to bahar.leva@health.qld.gov.au

Timeframes:
Closing date for questions and clarifications:  Tuesday 18 October 2022 at 4pm AEST
Closing date for submissions: Monday 24 October 2022 at 2pm AEST

Full details here:

https://qtenders.epw.qld.gov.au/qtenders/tender/display/tender-details.do?CSRFNONCE=545F54CD449D7335E755D9100A87A2CB

So we see a lot of recent activity and some evidence confirming that if you can provide on location / in home care there can be both system cost reduction, improved patient satisfaction and improved quality of care.

AS always you need to get the models of care and the support services right to make it all hang together and given the newness of some of these approaches it may take some experimentation to optimise the care delivery!

This will be an area of activity to watch and monitor going forward! Any good experiences being seen in your area?

David.

 

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