Elderly and ill patients connect to their doctors via broadband: Pilot Australian project

Now elderly patients and severely ill cancer patients will be able to see their specialist or GP with the click of a mouse, even if they are hundreds of kilometres away. This will be possible with a $20.6 million pilot program that starts this July. The program will use the national broadband network to deliver telehealth services to older Australians, cancer patients and those in palliative care.

Groups can apply for grants, typically of between $1 million and $3 million, to conduct two-year trials in telehealth for patients, particularly in regional and rural areas. Applications to participate in the program will open in the next two months.

The government's eventual plan for the telehealth system is that it will connect homes, doctor surgeries, pharmacies, clinics, aged-care facilities and allied health professionals. It will use the trial program to get feedback on how it and other health care measures can be delivered nationally.

Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said telehealth provides country patients with more care options. Ms Plibersek said the NBN telehealth pilot program would offer innovative services. “These will include having health indicators monitored remotely - for instance, your doctor being able to take your blood pressure online while you are at home - or receiving medical consultations and healthy living support in the home,” she said in a statement on Sunday.

Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy said it was wrong to assume older people did not like using technology. Aged Care Association Australia chief executive Rod Young said the use of technology was vital to ensure elderly people continued to receive access to quality care.

Dr. Ananya Mandal

Written by

Dr. Ananya Mandal

Dr. Ananya Mandal is a doctor by profession, lecturer by vocation and a medical writer by passion. She specialized in Clinical Pharmacology after her bachelor's (MBBS). For her, health communication is not just writing complicated reviews for professionals but making medical knowledge understandable and available to the general public as well.

Citations

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

  • APA

    Mandal, Ananya. (2018, August 23). Elderly and ill patients connect to their doctors via broadband: Pilot Australian project. News-Medical. Retrieved on November 02, 2024 from https://www.news-medical.net/news/20120123/Elderly-and-ill-patients-connect-to-their-doctors-via-broadband-Pilot-Australian-project.aspx.

  • MLA

    Mandal, Ananya. "Elderly and ill patients connect to their doctors via broadband: Pilot Australian project". News-Medical. 02 November 2024. <https://www.news-medical.net/news/20120123/Elderly-and-ill-patients-connect-to-their-doctors-via-broadband-Pilot-Australian-project.aspx>.

  • Chicago

    Mandal, Ananya. "Elderly and ill patients connect to their doctors via broadband: Pilot Australian project". News-Medical. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20120123/Elderly-and-ill-patients-connect-to-their-doctors-via-broadband-Pilot-Australian-project.aspx. (accessed November 02, 2024).

  • Harvard

    Mandal, Ananya. 2018. Elderly and ill patients connect to their doctors via broadband: Pilot Australian project. News-Medical, viewed 02 November 2024, https://www.news-medical.net/news/20120123/Elderly-and-ill-patients-connect-to-their-doctors-via-broadband-Pilot-Australian-project.aspx.

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
New research unveils mechanism behind deadly neuroendocrine prostate cancer