Australian Medical Association: Internet Crucial for e-Health Growth in Australia
February 24, 2017 4:23 pm
Australia is an incredibly large country, and as well as being beautifully diverse, the size brings its share of challenges. Healthcare is often a challenge for Australians, especially once accessibility is taken into account. The introduction of the electronic industry is essential for delivering care in rural and regional Australia.
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is calling on the government to further improve the broadband coverage and connectivity out in the bush, in order to support today’s medical services delivered via the internet.
Internet dependent e-health services include the following:
- Telehealth – A collection of means and methods to develop, sustain and make accessible healthcare and public health through the use of telecommunications technology in delivering health or physician services over the internet.
- Electronic Health Records (eHR) – A patient’s health records stored and accessed over cloud networks.
- Teleconference – Physician and Patient’s consultation done over a long distance video-conference call.
- Internet Connected Medical / App Devices – Medical devices connected to the internet and attached to the patient for real time condition monitoring by physicians and medical professionals over distance care programs.
Outlined in the AMA’s 2016 Regional Telecommunications Review are the challenges facing patients, hospitals and physicians in rural and regional Australia, where an internet connection is deemed vital in delivering telehealth services.
In the modern field of distance healthcare, medical videoconferencing and health portals based on medical resources are emerging. The e-health industry utilising IT services such as cloud computing and the Internet-Of-Things (IoT) in order to improve overall healthcare coverage.
Medical coverage in Australia will be more dependent on and driven by technology; this includes the challenges facing rural and regional Australia.
“[There is a]real risk that regional, rural and remote areas of Australia will be left further behind in the ability to provide quality health services.”
AMA, quoted in CIO Australia.
These services also holds an economic advantage for Australian patients. There is potential for individuals to save as much as $7,400 annually through e-health delivered over broadband technology, according to research provided by the Deloitte Access Economics report.
In facing the medical industry of the future, the AMA reiterated that quality broadband access and the rollout of the National Broadband Network (nbn®) are needed to support e-health in Australia.
nbn® technologies such as fixed line broadband, fixed wireless services and the continuous improvement of the nbn satellite connection (Sky Muster®), will play a key part in further developing the existing national medical services that covers patients, physicians, hospitals, the health department and medical groups.
The nbn®‘s Sky Muster satellite brings better satellite internet connectivity to regional Australia. To get on board Sky Muster, call Activ8me today on 13 22 88 or visit our site : https://activ8me.net.au/internet/skymuster
