The federal Government has endorsed a telemedicine trial by Victorian health authorities, using videoconferencing technology that has already been used successfully in NSW.
The 12-month trial, which began last December but was unveiled by Communications Minister Senator Conroy at Victoria's Alfred Hospital last night, will allow Melbourne medical specialists to use videoconferencing systems to assess patients in regional trauma and critical care units up to 600 km away.
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By April 30, it will require them to have, or have applied for, a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificate, as well as provide practitioners from the practice with access to key electronic clinical resources, the government information brochure states.
By 31 July, the program will also require them to have a secure messaging capability provided by an eligible supplier.
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In a speech delivered to a conference in Sydney this week, Telstra's business division head Deena Shiff has called for a review of the basis on which doctors are paid and for the removal of existing barriers blocking the uptake of new technologies such as videoconferencing. Along with related facilities, such as the ability to transmit X-ray or other scan images over fast data connections, these allow patients in rural areas -- or their general practitioners -- to consult medical specialists hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away.
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"I think realistically by the middle of next year we should have the legislation in place to support this. Pragmatically I understand next year is probably going to be an election year and there's a little bit of difficulty around that. So it's something that we need to monitor very carefully," Fleming said, speaking at the IIR National Telemedicine Summit in Sydney today.
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