Wednesday 18 July 2007

Regional health care in Eden-Monaro gets smart

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, and Eden-Monaro’s Federal Member, Gary Nairn today welcomed an initiative that will see broadband technology bring doctors and patients closer together.

More than $2 million ($2,166,999) in funding will be provided by the Australian Government to the Greater Southern Area Health Service, with matching funding from the New South Wales Government, to develop a remote medical consultation solution which will use broadband connections to allow remote assessment of patients across the Greater Southern Region.

Senator Coonan said that the Greater Southern Area Health Service had been selected as a preferred applicant under the first round of the Australian Government's Clever Networks program.

“I understand that access to quality and timely healthcare is a concern for people in Eden-Monaro, and that distance is often a barrier. But through the Clever Networks program, the Greater Southern Area Health Service (GSAHS) will be able to use broadband connectivity, together with three advanced clinical systems, to improve patient care in rural and regional areas of New South Wales,” Senator Coonan said.

The project has been developed in partnership with NSW Health. The GSAHS area covers more than 166,000 square km of the state.

“The GSAHS Clinical Outreach Program project will upgrade broadband infrastructure in 45 public hospital and health sites to support the roll-out of innovative clinical applications,” Senator Coonan said.

“This innovative use of broadband technology will bring doctors, other medical personnel and patients together in a way which will see benefits not only to individuals, but also to the Eden-Monaro region as a whole.”

Senator Coonan said three new systems; Electronic Medical Records (EMR), the combined Picture Archiving and Communication and Radiology Information System (PACS/RIS) and Remote clinical monitoring (Mediview) would use broadband connectivity to ensure that every clinician involved in a patient’s care, like doctors, nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists will be able to access, share and understand the patient’s complete care needs and medical history.

The EMR system supports applications including electronic ordering of tests, reporting of results, management of theatre schedules as well as discharge and referral systems. This system will provide a common backbone across the vast majority of hospitals throughout NSW.

PACS will support scheduling of procedures for patients, and will manage the scans produced by the RIS.

The RIS will allow immediate access to a patient’s radiology images from any health facility connected to the network or from any location via the Internet. RIS implementation includes the provision of new Computed Radiography systems for image capture to replace ageing chemical based film systems.

Mediview will utilise an IP network to facilitate collaborative assessment and diagnosis of patients in regional health facilities via a two way camera.

Mr Nairn said these systems will help medical teams work effectively across all parts of the system and across geographic boundaries.

“The technology will allow an emergency patient in Tumut or Batlow to be assessed by an expert in the Queanbeyan Hospital.

“Remote reporting of medical images allows the radiologist to report on images without being physically at the hospital in which the image was generated.

“For example, a child in Tumut with a broken arm will be able to have an X-ray taken in their home town, and the diagnosis will be made by specialists in Queanbeyan, avoiding the need for extensive, time-consuming and potentially distressing travel.”

Clever Networks is a $113 million Australian Government program that will see improved delivery of services in regional, rural and remote Australia through innovative broadband projects. Clever Networks is part of the $1.1 billion Connect Australia package, which provides a platform for investment in next generation broadband infrastructure.

Successful projects to receive Clever Networks first round funding will include virtual healthcare, remotely accessible interactive education services, and delivery of integrated state-wide emergency services.

More information about Clever Networks is available at www.dcita.gov.au/clevernetworks

Senator Coonan’s Media Contact: Katherine Meier 0417 441 141

Minister Nairn’s Media Contact: Megan Magill 0417 836 952