Doctors and clinicians are eagerly awaiting the NBN, but telehealth experts are already trialing new technology that will save not just money but lives.
This is healthcare in the not too distant future, but the tools will familiar to many tech savvy households - high definition television, video conferencing and the latest iPad.
All that is missing is super fast broadband.
The following is part of a hi-tech simulation is being carried out by telehealth experts at the Australian Centre for Health Innovation at Melbourne's Alfred Hospital.
However, the scenario in a regional hospital involving a seriously ill nine-month old baby boy will be all too real for many parents.
Local nurse Tess Vawser is using broadband technology to get an urgent online consultation from a specialist in Melbourne who otherwise would be hours away by car.
"The white cell count has come through as 20,000. Now that is quite high," she says over the video link-up, with the baby visible to a specialist on his screen.
"Two hours ago, he had this convulsion witnessed by his dad. Dad's brought him in. He is, actually was a bit more alert, he is a bit miserable and he is a little bit listless at the moment."
Based on the symptoms seen and heard down the line, the specialist decides to take no chances.
"It could be a serious infection. It could be even meningococcal. What you'll need to do is transfer him down to the children's hospital fairly urgently," the specialist replies.
David Ryan of the Grampians Rural Health Alliance in regional Victoria says, even with the current slower speeds, doctors in the bush can already see the benefits in saved travel time.
"The technology has got to a point in telehealth where you can have a high definition video conference, you can have it stay up. It won't drop out and you basically end up in a situation where the clinicians are starting to accept it as a technology, as a tool of trade," he explained.
"They are starting to see it as the only way of doing business. They'll now consider the option to use video conferences and telehealth devices instead of jumping in the car at the first thought."
At the moment, many patients travel to rural health centres to connect remotely with doctors but, in the future under the NBN, patients will not have to leave their homes.
Gayle Boschert of Grampians Health says that prospect has many patients excited.
"The patients talk about going to see the doctor on the tele and they talk about that down the street so it is not an unusual thing now," she observed.
"It is something that has been totally accepted by the community and it has been ongoing now for nearly three years."
Steve Pascoe of the Cochlear Implant Centre says the dollar savings from broadband consultations are significant.
"We are saving about $500,000 a year - we reckon we don't have to employ as many people to do this because instead of having four clinicians out in our regional, we only maybe have two out there and the rest will be serviced by remote," he explained.
At the moment doctors cannot charge for broadband consultations, but that will change in July when remote telemedicine becomes an official item claimable under Medicare.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Peter Ryan
Quelle/Source: ABC Online, 04.04.2011
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