COVID-19 Telehealth Guides

GUIDANCE ON GETTING STARTED WITH TELEHEALTH

Under the Coronavirus (COVID-19): National Health Plan, MBS items are available from 30 March 2020 to deliver services via telehealth. They are bulk billed video and telephone consultations with fees the same as for in-person consultations. More detail here. These items are stated to provide “Whole of population telehealth for patients, general practice, primary care and other medical services” patients for consultations provided by GPs, specialists, consultant physicians, consultant psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, allied mental health workers and other health professionals.

This quick guide to getting started with telehealth, using video conferencing or the telephone has been jointly produced by the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and the Australasian Telehealth Society. Click here and download. We suggest starting small and keeping it simple and ask for help from the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, your own college, a National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, the Australasian Telehealth Society, or your Primary Health Network.

ORGANISING TELEHEALTH SERVICES IN YOUR PRACTICE

For a more comprehensive guide published by the ATHS and ACRRM that offers advice on managing appointments and conducting remote consultations, Click here to view and download.


Interim arrangements for prescriptions for supply of medicines

According to the Department of Health As part of the National Health Plan, Electronic Prescribing is being fast tracked. Work to upgrade healthcare providers’ clinical software is well underway, and is expected to be ready by May 2020. In addition, there are immediate options available for patients to receive medicines via telehealth services explained on this factsheet.


Centre for Online Health Quick Guides for Healthcare Professionals

Tips on optimising video and audio quality and how to set their video conferencing space can read our Quick Start Guide. Tips on how to make the video conference as close to an in-person encounter as possible should read our guide on Communicating Effectively OnlineVideo conference software for telehealth. Tips on Purchasing webcams, headsets and microphone/speakers (speakerphones) for telehealth.


Centre for Online Health Quick Guides for Consumers

What is telehealth and is it right for you? Explains the basics of telehealth and describes how to find telehealth services. Attending a video consultation explains how you should prepare so you can get the best out of your video consultation. Any questions or feedback, please contact us enquiries@coh.uq.edu.au


The Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine 

The ACRRM Telehealth Support page is available here. 


RACGP

Guide to providing telephone and video consultations in general practice is available here.


Technology resources for COVID-19 from Pulse IT

Listed are some of the technological resources available to medical practices, allied health practices, pharmacies and hospitals during the coronavirus outbreak. Resources for aged and community care will be added shortly. Click here to view on the Pulse IT website.


Resources from Flinders University, Digital Health and the COVID-19 pandemia

Click here for resources on telehealth guidance, client communication services, digital mental health support, and online learning for providers.


Information and responses from medical colleges and associations

on the use of telehealth in managing the COVID-19 epidemic are available from the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine the Royal Australasian College of Physicians,  the  Royal Australian College of General Practitioners,   the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, and the Australian Medical Association.


COVID-19 and digital technology: The roles, relevance and risks of using telehealth in a crisis

A recording of an open access webinar hosted by the Digital Health CRC can be found here. (90 mins duration)


Video consultations: Information for GPs Professor Trisha Greenhalgh / IRIHS research group, University of Oxford 2020

COVID-19 creates an unprecedented situation. Many GP practices are considering
introducing video consultations as a matter of urgency to reduce risk of contagion.
This preliminary document (click here) covers when and how to set up video consultations.


Covid-19: a remote assessment in primary care, from the British Medical Journal

See: BMJ 2020; 368 BMJ 2020; 368 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1182 (Published 25 March 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;368:m1182  (Published 25 March 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;368:m1182


AARNet’s response to Zoom security and privacy issues

For users of the Zoom video conferencing service looking for advice on how to configure Zoom to ensure patient privacy, this page gives detailed instructions. and a wealth of information on the AARnet Zoom service.