Corrections to expand use of telehealth

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Corrections is working to expand its use of telehealth and develop a consistent national approach to how telehealth is managed and delivered in prisons.

Werner Pohl, Corrections chief medical officer, says telehealth video conferencing improves access to secondary, tertiary and specialist care across both mental health and physical health.

Use of technology reduces the number of escorts to medical appointments, keeping more frontline staff on-site, and prevents the need to reschedule offsite appointments for operational and safety reasons.

“Telehealth can be particularly beneficial in cases where a prisoner needs access to a specialist in another part of the country,” he says.

Video conferencing can also provide prisoners with access to medical officers when a physical examination or procedure is not required.

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The organisation first piloted telehealth at Spring Hill Corrections Facility in 2017. From March 2020, it introduced telephone consultations across all sites as part of restrictions to manage the risk of Covid-19.

Corrections continued to use telephone consultations as Covid-19 restrictions started to ease and in late 2020, introduced telehealth video conferencing across the Northern region, which has now been expanded to other sites.

“Our experience over the past few years has shown there are many benefits to using telehealth, and this has prompted us to work towards expanding the use of telehealth where appropriate, with work underway around a consistent national approach to how telehealth is managed and delivered in prison,” says Pohl.

Corrections uses a range of technologies including purpose-built telehealth units, audio-visual links, MS Teams, Zoom and telephones.

Telehealth appointments take place in prison health centres, or in other similar private settings, and are supervised and facilitated in-person by a Corrections nurse.

Pohl says the use of telehealth varies across Corrections’ 17 prisons, and depends on the need for remote delivery of healthcare, the infrastructure at the prison, and the telehealth readiness of providers.

Corrections is working to improve the necessary infrastructure, such as introducing telehealth-capable devices to the Intervention and Support Unit at Spring Hill Corrections Facility.

A new 500 bed facility at Waikeria Prison, with an additional 100 beds in a dedicated mental health and addiction service, will include improved cameras and technology to strengthen the organisation’s ability to provide telehealth services.

“While telehealth is an important additional tool for us and we are working to expand its use, it is not appropriate for all types of medical consultations and can’t replace many of the in-person services we provide,” Pohl says.

Corrections also occasionally uses remote monitoring devices for people in prison, such as pacemaker monitoring units which upload pacemaker data at regular intervals.

Picture: Werner Pohl, Corrections chief medical officer


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