Telehealth

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"Telehealth refers to health care delivery, or related processes (such as education), when some of the participants are separated by distance and information and communications technologies are used to overcome that distance.

Telehealth can be a cost-effective, real-time, and convenient alternative to the more traditional face-to-face way of providing healthcare, professional advice, and education. It can help to remove many of the barriers currently experienced by health consumers and professionals, such as distance, time, and cost, which can prevent or delay the delivery of timely and appropriate healthcare services and educational support.

The objectives of using telehealth are to:

improve patient outcomes
drive greater efficiency in the way health care is delivered
support the delivery of quality health care across the state and
make telehealth a viable alternate to the way some health care is traditionally delivered."1

TeleHealth Appointments Covid-19

* Appointment available - book for a Teleconsult on HOTDOC or call our surgery.

WHAT WILL THIS LOOK LIKE
- No patients to come into QLD Medical Doctors,
- online bookings can be made for a - telehealth appointment
- Reception will be working hard to handle all calls.
- GP’s will call around your scheduled appointment time. Please be ready to answer your phone, we will only try 2 times.
- If the GP would like to see you in person, they will advise you of this.

TELEPHONE CONSULTS

- For Telehealth fees please ask our receptionists.
- Please ensure you give us your best contact number
- Documents e.g. Scripts, referral, etc will be faxed/emailed as required

FOR MORE INFORMATION: COVID Hotline: 1800 831 099

Please keep calm, but follow protocols to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community.

Thanks for your cooperation.

IMPORTANT – Our surgery is OPEN!!

Please note that considering the current medical advice surrounding COVID-19, the practice has moved solely to Telehealth Consultations for the present time.

The doctors at the practice will be able to assist existing patients via phone calls but will bring patients into the practice for physical appointments if there is a clinical need.

Please call the practice on (07) 3351 8900 to arrange for an appointment and request further information about the process.

You may be asked to wait in your car and a doctor will phone you before entry to the clinic.

Kindly DO NOT arrive at the practice without calling first.

We thank you for your understanding and co-operation as we work to ensure the ongoing safety and well-being of our patients, doctors, and staff.

Telehealth appointments can bulk bill between 9 am to 4 pm on weekdays for patients younger than 16 yr old and age pensioners over 65 yr. Telehealth can be done by doctors and can be booked through Hot Doc.

Appointments with our GPs or Allied Health Providers can be made online or by calling our surgeries.

Coronavirus & The Future of Telemedicine and Telehealth Explained

Instead of attending a face-to-face appointment, telehealth uses technology to connect everyone to the medical appointment.

All participants will be able to hear and see – it’s just like being in the same room, but you can be anywhere.
Other people can join and participate – such as your family members, carers or other health or social care providers.
You will still receive the same standard of care, regardless of whether you attend your appointment face-to-face or via telehealth.
Telehealth services are provided using secure platforms. Like any face-to-face consultation your privacy and confidentiality will be maintained.

You can ask to receive your care via telehealth. Your clinician will discuss with you the type of telehealth that will be suitable to meet your needs, including what equipment is required. This could be a mobile phone, tablet, laptop or other specialised equipment.

Telehealth can take some getting used to, but it’s easy to set up. It’s a great idea to test your connection prior to your appointment and reach out for help if you have any problems. You will be given instructions on how to connect. 2

Following information is from QLD health:

"A telehealth appointment is just like a regular appointment; only the specialist you will be seeing and talking with is on a monitor with sound coming through speakers.

Telehealth is videoconferencing. It provides an opportunity to patients living in rural and remote areas to see their specialist without having to leave their local communities.

Videoconferencing can also be used to link families to long-stay patients, who are in a hospital away from their hometown.

If you like, you can ask family members, carers or friends to sit in on the telehealth appointment with you. There will also usually be a health care professional sitting with you during your telehealth appointment.

Before the telehealth appointment starts, usually the health professional sitting with you will outline what you can expect during the consultation and may even take some preliminary patient readings - for instance take your blood pressure or heart rate etc.

Once the videoconference starts, it will be as if you are all sitting in the room together. It will be just like a regular appointment.

Telehealth appointments can:

Improve access to health services locally
Reduce patient travel and costs
Reduce time away from home
Reduce making lengthy family or day care arrangements
Reduce taking extended amounts of time off work to attend appointments." 3

Royal Australian College of GPs:

"Telehealth services use information and communication technologies to deliver healthcare services and transmit health information. This can include via telephone consultation, email or videoconferencing. Telehealth is becoming more popular as a mode of healthcare delivery due to the benefits it provides to both patients and practitioners, particularly those in rural and remote areas. It has the potential to provide patients with more convenient and efficient access to healthcare.

Telehealth consultations can be synchronous (delivered in real time – eg video consultations) or asynchronous (not delivered in real time – eg using email and/or sending images such as photographs of skin or wounds for review at a later time).

Telehealth video consultations can improve synchronous access to specialist healthcare services for patients who live in regional, rural and remote areas, as these consultations are supported through the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).

This guide focuses on telehealth video consultations covered under the MBS where a general practitioner (GP), practice nurse or Aboriginal health worker is physically present with the patient to provide patient-end services during a consultation with a specialist at another location.

Broadly, a telehealth video consultation is:

a clinical consultation performed via a videoconferencing platform, where the patient and consulting specialist are not in the same physical location
information transmitted electronically during the consultation from the location of the GP/practice nurse/Aboriginal health worker and patient to another healthcare professional at a second location
the GP/practice nurse/Aboriginal health worker providing support to the patient, employing clinical skills and judgement to provide healthcare and feedback to both the specialist and the patient.

This guide will help GPs and other eligible practitioners to provide safe and effective video consultations, and outlines the clinical, administrative and technical considerations when introducing this mode of healthcare delivery." 4

Following information is from Department of health website:

"In a major boost for primary health care, the Australian Government is further strengthening telehealth arrangements as recommended by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and other medical experts.

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The Hon Greg Hunt MP,Minister for Health

Date published: 10 July 2020

Media type: Media release

Audience:

General public

In a major boost for primary health care, the Australian Government is further strengthening telehealth arrangements as recommended by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and other medical experts.

Under stage seven of telehealth reforms announced today, Medicare-subsidised telehealth services, introduced as a key part of the COVID-19 response, will now promote patients receiving continuous care from a patient’s regular GP or medical practice.

From July 20, Telehealth GP providers will be required to have an existing and continuous relationship with a patient in order to provide Telehealth services.

This will ensure patients continue to receive quality, ongoing care from a GP who knows their medical history and needs.

A relationship is defined as the patient having seen the same practitioner for a face-to-face service in the last 12 months, or having seen a doctor at the same practice for a face-to-face service during the same period.

In areas under stage three restrictions in Victoria, this requirement will not apply to those living under new restrictions in Victoria.

It will also exempt people under the age of 12 months or people who are experiencing homelessness. They will be able to have access to any provider. Our Government will closely monitor the impact of these exemptions and will consider further exemptions as necessary.

Requiring COVID-19 video and telephone services are linked to a patient’s usual GP or practice will support longitudinal, person-centred primary health care, associated with better health outcomes.

This change responds to advice from medical experts, such as the AMA and RACGP, and recognises that with restrictions now being lifted in many parts of Australia, it is important for patients to continue seeing their regular doctor.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reaffirmed the central importance of primary care to people’s lives and the Australian health system.

Telehealth has been enthusiastically accepted by doctors and patents alike. I hope and intend for telehealth to be a positive legacy of this crisis and am already engaged with the medical community in planning a long-term future for telehealth." 5