Determining Consumer Preferences and Experiences Regarding Telehealth Delivery for Australian Allied Health Services

Opportunity

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has hastened the spread of digital solutions to deliver health care in an effective way whilst avoiding non-essential face-to-face contact. In primary care, the introduction of the Telehealth MBS item has seen an increased use of telehealth services. Allied health professions make up a large proportion of the Australian health workforce. The use of remote technology to deliver healthcare services has enabled healthcare providers to reach more patients, as well as improved access to healthcare services for patients.

Despite the potential benefits of telehealth and the increased uptake in primary care, little is known about consumer preferences and experiences with these services, especially in relation to Allied Health Practice (AHP) with previous studies tending to focus on general practice rather than allied health and broader primary care. The purpose of this study is to explore consumer preferences and experiences with telehealth allied health practice health care. This research proposal will discuss the research methods, data collection strategies, and analysis techniques that will be utilized to investigate consumer preferences and experiences with telehealth allied health services. Additionally, the research proposal will outline the expected results and implications of the study.

Project Objectives

This project has two research aims: (a) identify consumer experiences and preferences towards the delivery of allied health practice healthcare via telehealth and (b) examine the factors influencing uptake, reach and quality of allied health practice telehealth services.

Other objectives included in the research development include:

1. Explore consumer experience and preferences for different types of allied health practice telehealth delivery modes (i.e., video verses telephone) and their views on telehealth verse face-to-face (F2F) consults.
2. Explore the appropriateness of different modes of delivery for different health conditions/or services provided.
3. Elicit the preference (value) health consumers have for using this as a channel of communication including their willingness to pay for telehealth.
4. Contribute to the broader body of knowledge around the future of healthcare delivery in Australia, centered in the consumer experience.
5. Target populations including rural and remote, lower socioeconomic to see if there are any differences in population preferences.