The rural GP college has released a digital health standard that it hopes will help ‘plug in’ Australia’s regions.
New digital tools can improve access to services, lower healthcare costs and reduce the time to diagnosis for Australians living outside of metropolitan areas – but ACCRM maintains that they’re no substitute for workforce.
The rural medical college issued a practice standard for digitally connected rural and remote communities on Friday which lays out the generic requirements for the design and implementation of digital health tools in a rural context.
“Lots of jurisdictions now seem to be wanting to push everything to go on to onto telehealth, for better or for worse,” ACRRM president Dr Rod Martin told The Medical Republic.
“And certainly, one of the points that we make is that patients still need physical doctors to be in the same room as them and we can’t just have it that we that we substitute everything for a video camera, and a technician at the far end.
“We’re using telehealth and digital health as much as possible to enhance the work that rural generalists do, but not to substitute it outright.”
The standard itself covers six areas: responsibilities of healthcare professionals, assessment of community context, responsibilities of healthcare organisations, healthcare governance, healthcare service planning and engaging with communities.
One key focus is on matching the right digital tools with the right population and physical environment.
“Healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations should consider the impact of the local physical environment on the community when developing, implementing and maintaining healthcare services supported by digital technologies,” the standard said.
“For example, when working in a clinic, working from home or travelling on the road, providing consultations and other services; the available Internet connectivity and alternative connectivity options, heat, humidity, severe weather events (cyclones, fires, floods, dust), remoteness and other environmental factors can influence the continuity of care.”
It also warned doctors to consider the business viability implications of introducing potential digital health technologies in rural areas where there may be low population density and fewer people around to fix or reconfigure something if it goes wrong.
Dr Martin said the standard was intended as a “guidebook” to help planning efforts.
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“Tiny villages that are 150 kilometres from the nearest centre need to have the right solution … to match the need and match the level of austerity that you’re trying to mitigate,” he said.
As for how to go about working out which digital tools would be best for a particular community, ACRRM had a simple solution: just ask.
“Healthcare organisations should consult with local communities to identify their particular needs to improve their health, well-being and continuity of care when planning and designing healthcare services using digital technologies and include communities in their design, implementation, and evaluation,” the standard read.
“For instance, important considerations for rural and remote communities when accessing health services may be the geographic location and demographics of the community; the ability of people and their carers to travel, family, work and cultural needs.”
The college even urged doctors and nurses to act as “mentors” for community members who want to use or access digital services like My Health Record.
