A new group, called the One in Four Lives group, funded by health insurance and product firms including BT and Philips, released a white paper on telehealth on Wednesday.
The paper called on the government to adopt a national telehealth strategy, to help save on healthcare costs and prevent people needing to attend hospitals.
It said as many as 62% of rural Australians were experiencing shortages of health professionals, and more than half of all medical specialists were in metropolitan areas.
To address the inequity, the group said evidence from a United Kingdom trial of telehealth showed a 15% fall in emergency department visits and 20% reduction in ED admissions.
Group chair, BT's health director Lisa Altman said they aimed to encourage industry to get more involved in telehealth.
But she said a national effort could help Australians in remote areas access healthcare without leaving home, and help reduce the budget burden on the government.
---
Quelle/Source: My Daily News, 05.03.2014
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
