Assessment of the Alfred Hospital COVID Community Pathway – lessons learnt from the pandemic response

Start Date

25 October 2022

End Date

28 September 2023

Project Participants

Alfred Health, Monash University

Status: Completed

Tags: acute care, community care, hospital in the home, pandemic response, population health, remote patient monitoring, telehealth, virtual care

Opportunity 

The Alfred Health COVID Community Pathway (AH-CCP) was stood up very quickly in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide home-based monitoring and support for people diagnosed with COVID-19 while reducing pressure on hospitals. The model integrated digital health technologies, remote patient monitoring, telehealth, and partnerships across hospital, primary care, community health and psychosocial support services. 

This project evaluated the AH-CCP program to identify lessons that could shape future virtual care programs and pandemic preparedness initiatives. 

Project Objectives  

The AH-CCP program involved a ‘light touch’ approach to monitoring symptoms which were triaged for nursing or medical escalation, using pulse oximeters, thermometers, and daily ratings initiated by text messages sent via a custom-built digital platform.  

The project evaluated the effectiveness, safety and scalability of the AH-CCP model of care. The evaluation examined patient outcomes, clinical workflows, digital health infrastructure, staff experiences and community partnerships to identify learnings and opportunities for application to other remote models of care and potential pandemic situations that may arise in the future.

The evaluation demonstrated that the AH-CCP provided safe and effective community-based virtual care model for people with COVID-19. The pathway used digital monitoring tools, telehealth services and integrated care coordination to support a large cohort of monitored patients during its operation.  

The project identified key enablers of success including strong cross-sector collaboration, adaptive digital technologies, risk-based triage systems and integration of psychosocial support services.

The project provides evidence for the future design of virtual care and hospital-in-the-home programs in Australia. The program showed the value of digital health technologies in scaling care during periods of exceptional demand. Lessons from the project can support future pandemic responses and broader chronic disease management programs. 

Integrity, Excellence,
Teamwork and Authenticity

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