Virtual care offers many benefits to consumers, their families and carers, healthcare providers, and the broader health system.
- Empowers consumers, giving them choice and greater flexibility in how they access care.
- Increased access to services closer to home.
- Enables integrated care, connecting healthcare providers, consumers, and their families and carers.
- Reduces the costs associated with travel.
- May be more convenient, reducing the challenges of managing work, education, caring and life commitments.
- Empowers consumers to self-manage their health condition, supporting consumer enablement.
- Reduces the burden on carers, providing more flexible ways to participate in healthcare appointments and discussions.
- Provides opportunities for carers to access support services.
- Supports the development of flexible and sustainable service delivery models that promote integration across primary, secondary and tertiary care.
- Enables access to specialist expertise, providing timely advice and care.
- Provides opportunities to offer increased or flexible hours of operation.
- Extends clinical knowledge, through consultation and shared care with specialists and primary care providers.
- Supports innovative solutions to manage health system challenges.
- Provides agile and flexible workplaces that are responsive to the needs of the workplace.
- Supports the management of staff fatigue.
- Provides access to education and professional development opportunities, including clinical supervision for isolated workers.
- Improves communication, networking, and collaboration between healthcare professionals across the health sector.
Virtual care can help consumers save time and money
Take the example of a rural consumer who needs treatment from a metropolitan specialist who is eight hours’ drive away. The consultation requires auscultation (listening) to the consumer's lungs. The specialist could arrange for the consumer to visit their local GP or hospital. During the appointment, the consumer, the doctor and the specialist can connect via videoconference to complete the consultation. If a digital stethoscope* is available, the specialist will be able to listen simultaneously.
This would save the consumer 16 hours of travel, costs associated with fuel or flights, one or two nights of accommodation, time off work, lost money to childcare, loss of learning time for school-aged children and time spent planning the logistics. It also supports a shared care arrangement, providing continuity of care with the primary care provider.
*Only use devices approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Consumer enablement
Consumer enablement is the extent to which people understand their health conditions and have the confidence, skills, knowledge and ability to manage their health and wellbeing. Increasing consumer enablement helps people actively manage their health, remain in good health and avoid hospitalisations.
The goal of consumer enablement is for consumers, carers and communities to work in true partnership with healthcare providers to achieve outcomes that matter to them.
The Consumer enablement guide provides clinicians with the tools to adapt their practice to achieve this.