Telstra Health integrates two digital health solutions enabling clinicians to deliver patient-centered care virtually

Communicare, Australia’s leading, digital care solution for primary and community health services, can now deliver virtual health monitoring capabilities to users of the platform following the integration of two Telstra Health digital health solutions, Communicare and Virtual Health Monitoring.

Designed in collaboration with rural and remote health services, the integration between Communicare and Virtual Health Monitoring enables clinicians to access patient-recorded observation measurements, regardless of a patient’s location, which can be reviewed and actioned within Communicare.

Once a clinician registers a patient for Virtual Health Monitoring, the patient’s details are automatically synced between Virtual Health Monitoring and Communicare. Following this, the patient can then record their health vitals using monitoring devices. The recorded health observations are then submitted to the Communicare platform whereby clinicians can monitor in real-time and address items that require follow-up or further action.

The integration aims to improve health outcomes and clinical intervention by reducing the time clinicians spend navigating between multiple digital health solutions and visiting patients. Combining Virtual Health Monitoring and Communicare also aims to alleviate the risk of transcription errors and increase the rate of response to clinically deteriorating patients.

Colleen Birchley, General Manager of Primary and Community Health at Telstra Health, said, “Communicare has been supporting primary and community health organisations for close to three decades, and now we can offer even greater access to reliable, efficient, and cost-effective healthcare for the patients they support.

“Virtual care can play a crucial role in creating healthier communities as it removes the traditional barriers to receiving accessible, high-quality healthcare, such as location and the mobility of patients.

“Furthermore, as patients’ expectations around the way they receive healthcare continues to evolve, integrating virtual care delivery within Communicare enables clinicians to be more involved in their patients’ care, particularly for those in remote settings.”

Communicare supports the majority of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, holds more than 3.5 million medical records, and is used by over 8,000 healthcare professionals nationwide. It is Australia’s leading health software platform that supports regional and remote clinics and organisations that deal with complex care needs in these settings.

The integration between Communicare and Virtual Health Monitoring can be particularly beneficial for the remote monitoring of patients with chronic conditions, or for monitoring, multiple patients with community spread diseases such as the COVID-19 virus.

Caring for patients through the use of Virtual Health Monitoring technology helps to optimise the safety and quality of the clinical care provided to patients, while removing the risk of transmission of diseases. This also allows clinicians to safely identify and closely manage the health of high-risk patients or those with deteriorating health.

Colleen adds, “The investment in the integration between Communicare and Virtual Health Monitoring marks another key milestone in Telstra Health’s commitment to creating a connected and improved digital health experience for all.”

UPDATE:

Virtual Health Monitoring has now been replaced by Virtual Health Platform, Telstra Health’s next generation virtual care solution. Virtual Health Platform is a secure, scalable and interoperable virtual care solution, which draws on over a decade of experience in implementing and scaling virtual care solutions like Virtual Health Monitoring.

Built with FHIR at the forefront, Virtual Health Platform removes the intermediate step of translating data to a standard format and simplifies healthcare interoperability. This helps to significantly reduce implementation time and enhance overall clinical efficiency.

The platform provides a digital, automated and streamlined process for creating improved and more transparent remote healthcare delivery. The platform can be easily adopted by healthcare services of all sizes and locations and can be customised to support a variety of use cases.

You can find out more about Telstra Health’s Communicare solution here.