Exploring Telehealth as a Tool to Reduce Burden on Rural and Regional Victorian GPs

Project Details

Project Lead: Dr Will Harvey

Patron ID: PAT1043

In Australia, approximately 7.83 million individuals reside in rural and remote areas, where access to healthcare services is a significant challenge. Over 65,000 people in these regions must endure journeys of over an hour to access even basic healthcare, which becomes even longer for specialised services. A shortage of health professionals in these communities contributes to a higher burden of disease compared to metropolitan areas. Despite government efforts, this problem persists.

Telehealth has undergone a boom in prevalence and popularity since the COVID19 pandemic but it is unclear whether it is being utilised with full effectiveness and efficiency. This research project aims to assess the use of telehealth by general practitioners and understand the complexity of patients they treat.

Epidemiology and data linkage methodologies will be employed utilising data from PATRON. The results of this project will be achieved by examining the proportion of appointments that are conducted via telehealth and how likely a person is to require in-person re-consultation within two weeks. The requirement for subsequent in-person re-consultation, following a telehealth appointment, increases the health workforce demands in these regions.

Outcomes from this research project may provide some insight into whether patients are being effectively triaged and deemed suitable for telehealth consultation and will allow us to make informed recommendations on how to effectively leverage telehealth consultation as a tool to help alleviate workforce demands.