Queensland expands virtual ED service statewide
Queensland Hospitals and Health Services is expanding access to Virtual Emergency Room services to all individuals in the state.
The telehealth service, developed and launched by Metro North Health during the height of the pandemic in 2020, is being made available to all Queenslanders in need of non-life threatening urgent care.
According to a press release, the extended service will be run by senior ED staff alongside GPs and QAS staff.
24/7 telegraph service in Western Australia targeted for next year
WA Health’s telemedicine stroke service is entering its second phase of implementation with plans to transition to 24/7 service.
About a year after its launch, the service has provided real-time stroke specialist care through telemedicine to more than 300 individuals.
The WA government said in a statement it has seen a “significant” entry in the Southwest and Greater South regions with more than half of referrals coming from these regions.
“Stroke is a time-critical medical emergency, and patient outcomes are improved by timely access to specialist clinical diagnosis and management. The Tele-stroke service will enable Clinicians across WA have access to focused counseling, neuroimaging consultations, rapid treatment pathways and timely clinical documentation,” said WA Stroke director Dr. Andrew Wesseldine know.
Healius moves to cloud-based contact center platform
ASX-listed pathology provider Healius is replacing a range of legacy phone and contact center technologies with an integrated RingCentral cloud-based solution.
The company recently signed a five-year contract with a US-based enterprise communications solutions provider to improve the physician and patient experience in pathology and imaging practice. It will also provide analytics and insights to boost workforce and operational efficiency.
The contract comes with equipment and service provision, 500,000 free calling minutes per month, e-fax functionality to all numbers, and a single service desk to streamline management communications.
The RingCentral platform will be integrated with Microsoft Teams, Salesforce.com, and other business applications used by Healius.
In addition, RingCentral has also committed to maintaining the security and privacy of all customer content, including call, fax, voicemail, audio recordings, file shares, conferencing, webchat , email or other communications transmitted or stored through the RingCentral services, with data retained and accessed only within Australia.
The rollout of RingCentral’s platform at all of Healius’ 260 locations across Australia is expected to be completed early next year.
North Shore Hospital installs outpatient kiosks
North Shore Hospital in Auckland is the latest public hospital in New Zealand to launch a touchscreen check-in kiosk for outpatients.
This deployment is part of a larger technology rollout aimed at enhancing the patient experience at Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand hospitals and healthcare services. It helps people move around, reducing any chance of having to queue in the reception area.
Patients can scan using the QR code provided on their posted or emailed appointment letters.
According to Te Whatu Ora Waitematā, the second and third installations will soon take place at North Shore and Waitakere Hospitals, both of which receive around 20,000 outpatient visits monthly.
