Push for Telehealth to stay after COVID-19 risk subsides
There’s a push for Telehealth services to remain after the coronavirus pandemic subsides — especially for those in regional areas. Here’s why.
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There is a push for telehealth services and online-based trials to be made a permanent part of the health system even when the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided.
A recent Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) survey found almost 90 per cent of doctors and physicians supported keeping telehealth consultations in the post-COVID world.
Of those, almost 75 per cent believe the availability of such services has improved accessibility of healthcare and the chance of patients keeping their appointments — especially for those in rural or regional areas.
RACP President, Professor John Wilson said Telehealth had proven a “critical tool” for specialist care.
“We’re always looking for ways to reduce barriers for people to receive healthcare – and
Telehealth has been a gamechanger in this respect,” he said.
“It’s clear that we’ve unlocked a really powerful way of providing flexible healthcare during
this pandemic – and it’s something that the community should continue to benefit from
once the threat of the virus has passed.”
Zoe Armstrong, the Clinical Trials Director at MSD Australia, says the pandemic had forced the industry as a whole to “think differently.”
“Moving to a patient centric model — it makes sense and it provides a lot of opportunities,” she said.
“This is what keeps people alive and the health system alive.”
Kerang local Edward Fenton knows just how important such a service can be after unknowingly suffering a detached retina.
The 76-year-old booked in for a phone appointment with an eye specialist at OPSM, who then referred him to the Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne for emergency surgery.
“If the arrangement hadn’t of been made by OPSM, I wouldn’t have reacted as quickly,” he said.
“It’s a great service to have and I’ve been very well looked after, very lucky.”
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