A Guide to Video Telehealth Consultations

With the federal government recently expanding Medicare-subsidised telehealth services to all Australians in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, most health consultations will inevitably move online for the time being. Therefore, healthcare providers should be able to provide effective and high-quality care through video consultations (DoH 2020).

Your organisation should know which technology, equipment and software to use, how to set it up and how to ensure video and audio are high-quality.

What is Telehealth?

Telehealth is the remote delivery of healthcare using information and communication technologies. Telehealth services may include virtual consultations, remote patient monitoring and maintenance of electronic patient health records (Mayo Clinic 2017).

In the past, virtual consultations delivered through video conferencing have often been used for patients who live in rural and remote areas so that they can receive care without travelling (RACGP 2019).