Last week Telstra announced it will join forces with a Swiss healthcare provider to offer online clinics for remote and regional areas of Australia as soon as next year.
Telstra group executive of retail Gordon Ballantyne says the rapid growth of health spending in Australia makes it a logical decision for the telecommunications giant.
"Health spending is growing more than twice as fast as our economy to nearly 10 per cent of GDP, from $120 billion in 2010 to an estimated $200 billion by 2020," he said.
"We've seen what the digital revolution has meant for other industries and we believe that healthcare in Australia could benefit from e-health to better serve all Australians."
He says digital health services will help with many of the challenges of remote healthcare.
"Seven million people in rural and regional Australia access GP services at a lower rate than the national average," he said.
"This integrated approach will result in a higher quality of care, better communication between services and more efficient use of health resources."
CEO of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia Jenny Johnson says if managed correctly the new technology could be a valuable addition to remote health services, but it is vital that online clinics and other digital health services do not replace face-to-face consultations with doctors.
"There is no doubt that tele-health under the right circumstances is of great support to rural communities and to rural doctors," she said.
"We are certainly not ruling out the value of tele-health consultations, but what we are saying is that the existence of tele-health should never be used as a replacement.
"Nor should it be used as an excuse not to continue to work to recruit an adequate rural workforce that can actually provide on ground and face-to-face services in communities.
"There is a whole range of medical services where it is really important that we have face-to-face and on-ground services if we can possibly do so."
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Isaac Egan and Sharon Molloy
Quelle/Source: ABC Local, 27.10.2014
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