Telehealth is powerful and it makes a
difference. Telehealth has the capacity
to bring patients and clinicians
together to deliver specialist care in a
remote and rural area in this vast state
of Western Australia. Telehealth is also
really important in our outreach
education programs try to make sure that
we maintain the level of knowledge
across our vast state. That's the power
of telehealth. The technology to make
sure we do the right treatment for the
right person at the right time.
In the past it was a real challenge to
see my patients who needed to travel a
distance to see me at my Perth
clinic. Or when I needed to travel to
regions it didn't always suit my
patients availability. Since my shoulder
injury it's been really inconvenient
having to make the long trip down to the
specialist in Perth. And because of his
injury he's unable to drive so I've had
to take time off work just to get him to
his appointments.
Sometimes it's just a 10 minute
follow-up visit it puts a lot of strain
on family life not to mention cost of
petrol, parking, accommodation and time
away from work. Now using telehealth I
can see my regional patients more often
with less stress for them.
Hi are you here for your telehealth appointment?
Ah yes. Good can I just confirm your name,
date of birth and your address please. Ah yep Terry Anderson
6th March 1960. Telehealth has been a real
bonus for me because I need ongoing help
for my condition. It's great to be able
to reduce the travel time by using
telehealth for my appointments.
The telehealth room's ready for you, I'll take
you through there now.
It's really easy to set up a telehealth
appointment, we've got support staff
right across the state in country and
metropolitan locations. We work with the
metropolitan sites to make sure that all
the information the doctor needs is
ready before the appointment. It's just
like seeing the doctor at the surgery, there
might be a short wait, the TV screen may
be black when you sit down but don't worry
it will light up when your doctor dials in.
Hi Terry good to see you. Yeh you too. Can I just confirm your date of
birth the 6th of March 1960. Yes that's
correct. So how's the shoulder been since I
last saw you?
Yeh well look it's been ok. At first it was a bit odd but
after a couple of minutes it was just
like a normal visit. With telehealth I
can stay close to home, it's more
convenient, it saves time and my wife can
still join me. So you've been having some
pain. Look I've reviewed your scans and everything's
progressing well. I'm going to get you to
show me some movements, how about you take
your sling off Terry and it's probably
better if you stand up.
Can you put your hand behind your head?
Great. I have all the scans and x-rays
provided to me before the consult. It just makes
sense to use telehealth, especially for
follow-up visits it's more convenient
for everyone. I've been surprised at how
good the image and sound quality is and
I can see how my patient is doing.
Telehealth is a safe and effective way
to see my patients, it's easy to use.
Considering what I had to go through in
the past just to get to an appointment
now telehealth virtually puts me in the
same room as the doctor, it's amazing and
lets me focus on keeping my recovery on
track, saves a lot of money in travel
costs, my family and work are happy too
I love it. Just keep going with your exercises
You'll need to have another scan so I'll send the request through and we'll see you next time.
Telehealth has made it easy for me to
see my doctor close to home. You don't
always have to visit a local hospital to
use telehealth. Sometimes patients can
link with their specialists from
wherever they are with a computer, phone
or tablet. Ask your doctor how telehealth
can help you. Visit the HealthyWA
telehealth webpage.