Implementation Landscape for Medicare Telehealth Services Implementation

Speaker: Anthony Maeder

Affiliation: University of Western Sydney

Time: Monday 12/03/2012 from 14:00 to 15:00

Venue: Access Grid UWS. Presented from Campbelltown (26.1.50), accessible from Parramatta (EB.1.32) and Penrith (Y239).

Abstract: As part of its health reform agenda, the Australian Government has begun to broaden the scope of funded clinical services involving telehealth, with the introduction from 1 July 2011 of 34 new MBS rebates for teleconsultations. The items specifically provide for video conferencing based consultations between a specialist and a patient (possibly involving clinical support at the patient end) who is in a limited access setting, such as a residential aged care facility, or a distant location, such as regional settlements or remote area ATSI health facilities. The introduction of these new items has been complemented with provision of various financial incentives to promote and sustain adoption. Previously the only items available for MBS reimbursement have covered particular telepsychiatry services in specified care situations. This talk provides an analysis of the technical and clinical operating environment necessary for the new items to be successfully implemented, and proposes a framework to support the development of further related items.

Biography: Anthony is a Professor of Health Informatics in the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics.