Telehealth use in hospitals going backwards - stocktake

eHealthNews.nz: Digital Patient

Telehealth use in hospitals going backwards - stocktake

Sunday, 25 February 2024

Share |

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

New Zealand’s public hospitals are going backwards in their use of telehealth and there is a significant divide in resourcing across the country, a new stocktake reveals.

The number of telehealth leadership positions has reduced, particularly telehealth programme managers, and some areas have no dedicated leadership role.

The latest Telehealth Stocktake shows that hospital districts are “only somewhat or slightly equipped to use telehealth as a tool to facilitate the health reforms” and none are completely equipped to adopt telehealth into business as usual.

The stocktake, previously done in 2014 and 2019, is a NZ Telehealth Forum (NZTF) initiative. For the 2022/2023 stocktake, the NZTF partnered with Massey University and associate professor Inga Hunter spoke at Digital Health Week 2023 about the latest results.

She said investment driven by Covid-19 led to real gains in telehealth, but the country is now losing telehealth services and there is a decrease in planned use of telehealth for the future. Pandemic funding enabled the development of programmes to manage virtual care, but that funding finished.

You’ve read this article for free, but good journalism takes time and resource to produce. Please consider supporting eHealthNews by becoming a member of HiNZ, for just $17 a month.

New Zealand has since gone backwards in the available workforce and support for workers at the coalface of telehealth services - the two top areas of concern highlighted by the stocktake, Hunter told the audience.

“We have a marked variability in the ability of different organisations to move forward with the telehealth space. We are not dealing with a level playing field across all the districts,” she said.

Interoperability between systems is variable and this lack of integration means administrators and clinicians default to in-person appointments because systems are not smooth.

The stocktake says, “there has been minimal improvement in interoperability, governance, change management, training and support for ongoing telehealth initiatives in most Districts. In order to enable users, investment is required strategically in all Districts”.

A Health New Zealand spokesperson said the use of telehealth in hospitals settings has reduced as the delivery of in-person care and treatment has become more available and can be the preferred option.

“We did, however, learn a lot about the benefits of virtual healthcare during this period and its use is now higher than pre-Covid levels in many areas,” the spokesperson said.

“We are investigating how telehealth could be used to deliver clinical services in the future as part of a broader programme of work underway looking at the future configuration of our clinical services and campuses.

“Resourcing and staffing decisions will be considered as clinical service planning work is completed and any subsequent funding commitments are made.”

The stocktake says the most significant benefits of telehealth are patient-related including reduction in travel, costs and time off¬ work, whereas the biggest barriers are resource-related, such as technical support and access to devices and data.

It recommends a clear, clinically led strategy for telehealth delivery, supported by policy and with an equity focus.

“Telehealth should be part of a responsive hybrid model of healthcare,” it says.

A webinar on the Telehealth Stocktake is being held by the NZ Telehealth Forum this Wednesday 28 February 7-8.15pm – register online to attend.

Picture: Patient Janice McDrury in a telehealth consultation with Southern DHB Endocrinologist Professor Patrick Manning