Telehealth in the home consultations were implemented and evaluated within five established allied health outpatient clinics at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.
Developing Specialist Paediatric Allied Health Services via Telehealth in the Home
Initiative Type
Model of Care
Status
Close
Added
Last updated
Summary
Key dates
Jun 2016
Jun 2017
Implementation sites
Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital
Aim
To provide greater flexibility and reduced costs for families attending outpatient allied health clinics at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.
Benefits
- Improved access to specialist allied health clinics for clients, regardless of their geographical location.
- Greater flexibility and reduced cost and travel for families living outside of metropolitan Brisbane.
Background
Many of the families attending allied health outpatient clinics at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital have indicated interest in telehealth services, noting that this may provide greater flexibility and reduced associated costs for attending appointments in person.
Telehealth offers the opportunity to improve access to specialist allied health services for all clients, regardless of their location. In addition, a telehealth service delivery model offers the potential to generate increased funding for allied health consultations as a cost-effective alternative to phone reviews.
The aim of this project was to pilot the provision of follow-up consultations via telehealth in the home for patients attending the following five specialist allied health outpatient clinics:
- Dietitian Obesity Clinic
- Dietitian Allergy Clinic
- Speech and Occupational Therapy – Feeding Therapy Clinic
- Queensland Paediatric Cardiac Service Dietitian and Speech Pathology – Feeding Clinic
- Multidisciplinary Feeding Therapies Clinic
Solutions Implemented
- Telehealth in the home consultations are now available for five established allied health clinics.
- Toolkit developed and made available for other allied health clinicians across Queensland Health.
Evaluation and Results
- The pilot demonstrated that the implementation of the telehealth service maintained service efficiency and quality, cost effectiveness and clinical outcomes.
- Evaluation of the service demonstrated high levels of client and clinician satisfaction with telehealth in the home as a service delivery option.
Lessons Learnt
- Executive and management support and organisational readiness is critical for the implementation of new models of service delivery.
- Local champion essential for sustainability.
