Country Health SA says it would like to expand the use of video link-ups between doctors and patients across the state.
Country Health’s chief operating officer, Rebecca Graham, recently attended a Rural Medicine Australia conference, where health professionals from around the country discussed the challenges and opportunities of telehealth.
She said it was investigating the possible use of the technology in emergency medicine, similar to the practice in Western Australia.
“We’re looking at the models that they’re doing there too – where you may have an emergency doctor that’s in a metropolitan area that’s actually supervising a presentation that may not have a GP present or might support a GP in a local area to provide that emergency support,” she said.
She said the technology was mainly used to deliver mental health services but other parts of the health sector were now using video consultations.
“We’re now seeing that other specialties are doing extremely well and so some of those specialties, such as cancer services, renal services, rehabilitation and cardiology, have done some fantastic models of care that actually cover all of country South Australia,” she said.
“So we’re really pleased with the uptake of this service.”