The reported benefits of telehealth for rural Australians

Moffatt, Jennifer; Eley, Diann

doi:10.1071/ah09794

Cited by 291 publications

(313 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…[16][17][18] Telepsychiatry has been proven to be reliable and acceptable to both patients and providers for non-urgent care and has great potential for emergency care. [19][20][21][22][23][24] The initial evaluation of the MHEC-RAP during the establishment phase concluded that the program was helpful for both providers and patients. 25,26 The present study is part of a further evaluation and was designed to document longer-term changes in service use, identify gaps in services use and inform further service development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Successful provision of emergency mental health care to rural and remote New South Wales: an evaluation of the Mental Health Emergency Care–Rural Access Program

Saurman

Lyle

Perkins

et al. 2014

Aust. Health Review

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Objective. To evaluate a rural emergency telepsychiatry program, the Mental Health Emergency Care-Rural Access Program (MHEC-RAP), which aims to improve access to emergency mental health care for communities throughout western New South Wales (NSW).Methods. A descriptive analysis of service activity data from the introduction of the MHEC-RAP in 2008 to 2011 using Chi-squared tests and linear regression modelling to assess change and trends over time.Result. There were 55 959 calls to the MHEC-RAP, 9678 (17%) of these calls initiated an MHEC-RAP service (~2500 each year). The use of video assessment increased over 18 months, then levelled off to an average of 65 each month. Health care provider use increased from 54% to 75% of all contacts, and 49% of MHEC-RAP patients were triaged 'urgent'. Most (71%) were referred from the MHEC-RAP for outpatient care with a local provider. The proportion of MHEC-RAP patients admitted to hospital initially increased by 12%, then declined over the next 2 years by 7% (by 28% for admissions to a mental health inpatient unit (MHIPU)).Conclusion. The MHEC-RAP is well established. It has achieved acceptable levels of service activity and continues to be as used as intended. Further research is required to confirm how the MHEC-RAP works in terms of process and capacity, how it has changed access to mental health care and to document its costs and benefits.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Successful provision of emergency mental health care to rural and remote New South Wales: an evaluation of the Mental Health Emergency Care–Rural Access Program

Saurman

Lyle

Perkins

et al. 2014

Aust. Health Review

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“…The last aspect is significant, considering minor healthcare centres which could take benefit from teleradiology implementation [20] .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compensation of the non-uniformity of back-lighting sources when digitising X-ray films for video-densitometric measures

Zanetti

Franceschini

2012

JBGC

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Background: computerised image analysis and the building of electronic archives require the digitisation of x-ray films performed in the past, when direct digitisation was not yet available. Different techniques can be used, based on laser scanning or camera acquisition; both can be heavily impaired by the non-uniformity of the backlighting source. This work wants to develop a methodology, able to reduce this noise source. Methods:The introduced algorithm is a step beyond the common compensation of backlighting non-uniformity through subtraction; in fact, each grey level is corrected taking into account not only its position on the back-lighting system and its raw value, but also the interaction between these two parameters.Results: Given a certain acquisition system, the introduced algorithm has allowed to reduce the maximum grey level standard deviation, read on uniform grey level films, from 9.15 to 2.00 (on a scale from 0 to 255) against traditional subtraction techniques that achieved a minimum standard deviation equal to 5.39. Conclusions:The employed algorithm has proved to be effective in order to obtain same measured grey levels, almost independent from the position of the radiograph on the back-lighting system, and therefore makes x ray image digitisation more accurate.

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“…Generally, the patient and the PHC worker are together at one location, while the specialist is at a remote site. Such three-way encounters can have a valuable educational role for the professionals involved, helping PHC workers increase their clinical skills and understanding of speciality areas (Wallace et al 2004) -particularly rural/regional workers (Kerr and Day 2010;Moffatt and Eley 2010) who have limited access to continuing medical education -and helping specialists develop a better understanding of front-line PHC practice.…”

Section: Significance Of Telehealth To Primary Health Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Video-based telehealth in Australian primary health care: current use and future potential

Raven

Butler

Bywood

2013

Aust. J. Prim. Health

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Many Australians have limited access to health-care services due to a range of barriers, including geographic distance and restricted mobility, which telehealth can potentially address. This paper reviews the current and potential use of video consultation in primary health care in Australia, drawing on international literature. There is substantial evidence of high patient satisfaction, but many studies have methodological limitations. Overall, evidence of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness is weak. There is reasonable evidence for diagnosis, home care and specialist consultations by GPs with patients present. Two telehealth initiatives using video consultation are briefly presented. Both provide evidence that video consultation has a valuable role to play, but does not obviate the need for face-to-face consultations. Video consultation challenges traditional professional roles, particularly those of nurses, and can improve health workers’ skills and job satisfaction. More fundamentally, telehealth challenges the traditional distinction between primary and secondary care. This can be a source of resistance but may ultimately be one of its strengths. Appropriately targeted video consultation has much potential to improve the delivery of primary health care in Australia, particularly in rural and remote regions.

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The reported benefits of telehealth for rural Australians

Cited by 291 publications

References 40 publications

Successful provision of emergency mental health care to rural and remote New South Wales: an evaluation of the Mental Health Emergency Care–Rural Access Program

Successful provision of emergency mental health care to rural and remote New South Wales: an evaluation of the Mental Health Emergency Care–Rural Access Program

Compensation of the non-uniformity of back-lighting sources when digitising X-ray films for video-densitometric measures

Video-based telehealth in Australian primary health care: current use and future potential

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