Queensland Virtual Hospital Expands Emergency Care Services
The Queensland state government has earmarked $27 million ($18 million) to expand the services of the Queensland Virtual Hospital to cover emergency care.
According to the press release, the new virtual urgent care service will respond to non-life-threatening emergencies, including acute respiratory illnesses, allergic reactions, rashes, bites, pain, infections, burns, children with fever, gastroenteritis, and dizziness.
Meanwhile, an adjacent service, Queensland’s telestroke service will be integrated into the Queensland Virtual Hospital later this year.
MED Connects EMRs via the Cloud
My Emergency Doctor telemedicine service can now provide interoperability between systems to allow hospitals to conduct online meetings.
Recently, MED, which connects senior emergency medicine specialists with hospitals virtually 24/7deployed InterSystems’ cloud-based managed integration tool to support the virtual overnight monitoring service of an unnamed large suburban hospital, helping to improve care transitions and length of stay.
According to a press release, the hospital prefers to interface its systems with MED’s EMR system using the existing HL7 messaging standard. Until recently, MED had implemented its EMR integration using a secure file-sharing service. “With HL7 interoperability, we can get more information faster and create better clinical workflows. If something happens, we get the data right away and the nurse doesn’t have to check,” said MED CTO Ben Rhodes. to shared.
InterSystems’ HealthShare Health Connect Cloud platform will be further expanded to provide interoperability with other MED telemedicine services, with ongoing support from InterSystems partner Fluffy Spider Technologies.
NSW trials body-worn cameras in hospitals
State government of New South Wales is conducting a 12-month trial of body-worn cameras in several public hospitals.
The trial aims to assess the effectiveness of technology in preventing and de-escalating violence in hospitals, according to a media statement. It notes that cases of aggressive attacks on public hospital staff have increased in recent years.
The trial will be rolled out across nine public hospitals, including Westmead and Nepean Hospitals. Up to 300 body-worn cameras will be deployed to hospital security staff. The devices will only be used to record footage deemed to pose a risk of harm to staff, patients or others.
The use of body-worn cameras is one of several recommendations made in the Hospital Security Review. by former NSW Police Minister Peter Anderson to improve hospital safety and security.
