Five new specialties have been added to the free virtual consultant platform, including neurology, infectious disease, and respiratory and sleep medicine.
Catholic not-for-profit health provider Mater Health will expand its telehealth consulting platform, increasing the breadth of specialists available for GPs seeking clinical advice.
The eConsultant service, based at Mater Private Hospital in South Brisbane, allows GPs to virtually request advice from a specialist consultant regarding treatment, management, monitoring or diagnostic pathways, with responses typically received by GPs within two days.
Previously restricted to dermatology, endocrinology and cardiology, the service now offers access to specialist advice across neurology, infectious disease, respiratory and sleep medicine, obstetric medicine and renal medicine.
More than 350 patients across regional Queensland have been treated using the eConsultant service, with 87% avoiding a face-to-face visit with a GP as a result of the service, the company’s announcement said.
According to Emeritus Professor David McIntyre, clinical lead for the eConsultant service, increasing the number of specialities available through the program was vital to improving the quality of health services available for patients in rural and regional Queensland.
“It’s about providing Queenslanders with access to quality specialist advice regardless of where they live,” Professor McIntyre said.
“As demand for timely, better-coordinated complex care continues to rise, the eConsultant program provides an innovative and efficient way to enhance health outcomes for Queenslanders, particularly those in rural and remote areas.”
The eConsultant service is delivered in partnership with Queensland Health, the University of Queensland, Western Queensland PHN, North Queensland PHN, Brisbane South PHN, the RACGP and the Australian Digital Health Agency.
Dr Kasandra Kuhler, a GP working out of Charleville, told media the program had radically improved the timeliness and quality of care GPs could provide for rural patients, particularly in light of growing trends in comorbidity and the increasing complexity of primary care presentations.
“My rural patients are an incredibly stoic group of people who don’t like to leave the area, but they also have quite complex medical issues,” Dr Kuhler said.
“Having that direct link to the specialist has really changed how quickly I can provide care to my rural patients.”