1. Telehealth in Australia Laurie Wilson PhD Honorary Secretary, Australasian Telehealth Society Post-Retirement Fellow, CSIRO ICT Centre

2. Telehealth in Australia Challenges posed by large distances and small populations –Excellent health system but unequal access to the best expertise –Poorer health outcomes in rural and remote areas Long history –Royal Flying Doctor Service 1928 Development limited by –Lack of national vision –Fragmentation due to state-based health systems –Lack of access to advanced network and user interface technology

3. Australia is a big country…….

4. Population (millions) Selected Asia-Pacific Nations …with a small population

5. Some recent developments Broad band critical care telemedicine pilots Announcement of National Broadband Network Formation of Australasian TeleHealth Society

6. Telehealth on Advanced Networks Projects supported by Australian Department of Broadband, Communications & the Digital Economy –Virtual Critical Care Unit (ViCCU) –ECHONET Use of advanced network permits delivery of more complex services –Better use of stretched medical workforce

7. Virtual Critical Care Unit Developed by CSIRO with support from Australian Department of Broadband, Communications & Digital Economy Uses multiple high-bandwidth video & audio channels to permit a trauma specialist to join a team in a rural hospital

8. ViCCU ® 100 Mbit/s fibre

9. ECHONET Connects regional ICU to major tertiary referral ICU Supports bedside consults and echocardiography Major teaching role

10. ECHONET system Royal Hobart Hospital Cardiology Royal Hobart Hospital ICU Burnie Hospital ICU 100 Mbit/s network

11. Australasian TeleHealth Society www.aths.org.au A forum for telehealth in Australia and New Zealand Affiliated to International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth (ISfTeH) Formed in 2008; growing rapidly Dedicated to raising the profile of telehealth in Australia Around 50 members –Corporate members include Royal Flying Doctor Service

12. Trends Better networks and user interfaces support: –Complex medical procedures and cases, e.g. critical care –Point of care consultations –User-activated consultations underpinned by high degree of usability –Distributed expertise model of health care delivery

13. National Broadband Network Recently announced by Australian Department of Broadband $A43billion investment Health as major beneficiary

14. Telehealth in Australia Australasian TeleHealth Society to push for national approach National Broadband Network to provide opportunities for further rollout of advanced systems

15. Two events in 2010 29 th APAN Meeting, Sydney 8-12 February Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth, Perth, November (incorporating 1 st Scientific Meeting of Australasian Telehealth Society)