prof. colin carati, flinders university - impact of the nbn on ehealth in australia
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Impact of the NBN on
eHealth in Australia
Colin Carati
e-Health is …..
‘the combined use of electronic
communication and information technology
in the health sector’ (WHO)
• electronic health records
• digital information flow in healthcare
• telehealth, remote monitoring and
videoconferencing
• “participatory” health
NBN will accelerate development of e-
Health ……
……. and shift the focus of healthcare
from institutions and healthcare sites into
the community
……. but how ?
1. observations so far
2. challenges along the way
3. next steps ?
national ehealth strategies and programs
state and territory ehealth strategies and
programs
commercial sector / private practitioner
developments
• National eHealth Strategy 2009
• NEHTA - PCeHR, eFoundations including standards, interoperability,
security and access, health identifiers and clinical terminology
• National Digital Economy Strategy 2011 (updated 2013) - Health and
Ageing Goal
• Medicare Benefit Scheme Online – payments for certain Telehealth
consultations
• NBN enabled ehealth / TeleHealth projects
National eHealth Strategy 2009
“….E-Health is the means of ensuring that the right
health information is provided to the right person at the
right place and time in a secure, electronic form for the
purpose of optimising the quality and efficiency of health
care delivery …..
E-Health should be viewed as both the essential
infrastructure underpinning information exchange
between all participants in the Australian health care
system and as a key enabler and driver of improved
health outcomes for all Australians. “
could something like the NBN enhance
healthcare through ehealth ?
• evidence from international and
national trials
• evidence from “NBN – enabled”
trials in Australia
• evidence from jurisdictional (State /
Territory) trials and programs
• evidence from professional uptake /
commercial development
do you need the NBN for ehealth ?
health ‘networks’ OK at institutional level,
but poor reach into the broader community
• NBN improves community level access,
including to the home,
• allows greater proportion of healthcare to
be pushed out into community settings
• NBN improves rural and remote access (via wider rural and remote distribution and
satellite and wireless services)
do you need that much bandwidth ?
depends on what you are trying to achieve
• some eHealth solutions can operate on
existing technology (ADSL, 3 or 4G)
• BUT ….. increasing the bandwidth
improves the service and permits more to
be done
Palliative care / rehab / aging at home
• health status monitored at home via
questionnaires on iPad –
deterioration triggers alerts
• rehab / activity levels monitored in
home
• videoconferencing – regular and ‘on
demand’
• capacity to bring in carers,
specialists and GPs (case
conferencing)
relatively low cost, low bandwidth (up to 1
mb/s) solutions can be very effective, but ….
• poor quality and reliability of service
(increasing bandwidth reduces contention)
• useful upload speeds become important,
especially for videoconferencing
• successful service leads to requests for
more options and increased scope leading
to demands for more bandwidth !!
more comprehensive home monitoring
increases bandwidth requirements with
increasingly instrumented homes eg in
dementia care
bandwidth requirements escalate with
multi-residential dwellings
video, video , video
= bandwidth, bandwidth, bandwidth
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video is becoming more prevalent
visual cues are critical to human
communication, and to health care
• visual assessment
• establishes a more direct and deeper
relationship - even silences have
meaning
• provides a sense of the environment
• stronger commitment to actions
reproduced with permission from Chris Ryan, Attend Anywhere
reproduced with permission from Chris Ryan, Attend Anywhere
so, ….
• current evidence is that ehealth does
enhance healthcare, and has great
potential
• NBN will improve community access,
especially to the home, and push
healthcare towards primary care
• bandwidth demands are likely to increase
2. challenges along the way – its
not as easy as it looks !!
• NBN rollout schedule
• mainly organisational, rather than
technical
• digital literacy
fragmentation
• different approaches taken by
institutions, private practitioners and
commercial suppliers
• growth has been ‘organic’ and
opportunistic – “pilotitis”
• trials ‘bolted on’ rather than through re-
engineering work practices
despite good evidence for value of telehealth, uptake
has been slow ….. because it involves complex
change management, new models of care and new
business models
“Telehealth is a good example of a complex innovation;
it changes
– the way in which health care providers work.
– referral patterns, clinical pathways and the patient journey.
– professional roles: who does what aspects of the clinical work.
– the type, frequency and nature of communication between
health care providers.” [and the recipients and community]
V Wade, How to Make TeleHealth Work http://www.e-unicare.com.au/
interoperability and security
• jurisdictional networks secure within States
/ Territories but not always well connected
with other states, private practice,
community, businesses, homes
• security / privacy not always adequately
addressed
• operational standards are still being
addressed
digital literacy and the digital divide
• implementation of eHealth requires
– upskilling of health care professionals
– upskilling of many healthcare recipients,
especially elderly and vulnerable
– making things simple
– access to affordable technology
• the digital divide is reducing, but how will
digital literacy / access affect health care ?
3. next steps ?
“ADVANCING AUSTRALIA AS A DIGITAL ECONOMY 2013”
HEALTH AND AGED CARE (Labour Govt, 2013)
Action 16. Consider the expansion of the Medicare Benefits Schedule for telehealth
items
- costs and benefits to be reviewed in 2013 ?
Action 17. Evaluate outcomes from telehealth trials and develop action plans to
address key challenges
- during 2014-15, the Government will evaluate the current telehealth trials, share trial findings
and lessons with the healthcare community, and use the findings to develop action plans to
address key telehealth issues.
Action 18. Implement video consultations for the after-hours GP Helpline and the
Pregnancy, Birth and Baby Helpline – phased in over 2013
Action 19. Support increased use of digital platforms to provide aged care services
The Government will introduce a range of reforms such as:
> revision of relevant aged care program guidelines to recognise and encourage the use of
innovative and digital delivery options for the provision of aged care services
> expansion of the Community Visitors Scheme into home care including through the use
of technology
> launch the My Aged Care website to provide coordinated information for aged care services.
www.aths.org.au
KS1: focus on national priority groups
KS2: apply ‘fit for purpose’ models
KS3: optimise the locus of implementation
KS1: focus on national priority groups
• aged care
• poorly mobile / disabled
• outer metropolitan, rural and remote
KS2: apply ‘fit for purpose’ models
develop technical, business and financial
models that support clinical change by
• being sustainable and scalable
• working across multiple providers / funders
/ jurisdictions
• being demonstrably ‘fit for purpose’.
KS3: optimise the locus of implementation
by focussing on;
• appropriate vehicle for encouraging primary
/ team based implementation (State based
services, Medicare Locals ?)
• clinical pathways and use cases for specific
health care disciplines.
• identifying demand, enablers and barriers
for uptake by consumers.
• will accelerate development of e-Health
• will shift the focus of healthcare from
institutions towards primary care and into
the community
• will be improved by nationally coordinated
strategies and implementation
• requires sound business models and
careful change management
conclusions - leveraging the NBN :
National eHealth Strategy 2009
The World Health Organisation defines E-Health as ‘the
combined use of electronic communication and
information technology in the health sector.’ …..
….E-Health is the means of ensuring that the right
health information is provided to the right person at the
right place and time in a secure, electronic form for the
purpose of optimising the quality and efficiency of health
care delivery …..
E-Health should be viewed as both the essential
infrastructure underpinning information exchange
between all participants in the Australian health care
system and as a key enabler and driver of improved
health outcomes for all Australians.
Telehealth in the Home: Palliative
Care, Aged Care and Clinical
Rehabilitation in SA
Michael Kidd, Maria Crotty, Jen Tieman,, Kate Swetenham, Alan
Taylor, Colin Carati, Craig Whitehead, David Currow, Dr Sarah
Mahoney, Tom Symonds
Funded by the Australian Government under the National Broadband
Network (NBN) Enabled Telehealth Pilots Program’
Project Partners: Flinders University
South Australian Local Health Networks (Palliative Care,
Aged Care and Rehabilitation), Country Health SA
Southern GP groups, ACH
Three clinical streams
• Palliative care: Integration of online tools, remote monitoring, information and
resources and regular online communication to support home-
based patients and their carers.
• Aged: Video conferencing to support clinical care in RACF.
• Rehabilitation in the elderly: Introduction of e-rehab including online tools, information provision
and communication to support home-based rehabilitation services
for the elderly, including people recovering from stroke or fractures.
National eHealth Strategy 2009
“National broadband services – A key foundation of the
national health information highway will be access to
national broadband services that provide connectivity
between all Australian care providers. ………
……. As part of this process, there should be a focus on
ensuring that national communications infrastructure will
be fit for E-Health use and is priced in a manner that does
not discourage the sharing of health information across
geographic and health sector boundaries.”
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