Economic evaluation of expansion of Emergency telehealth services into AMS in WA

Opportunity

Since 2018, the Western Australia Country Health Service’s Command Centre (WACHS CC), a virtual clinical hub, has provided more than 160,000 video consultations to 88 emergency sites state-wide and have avoided hospital transfers for 74% of patients seen by their service [1]. The importance of delivering care closer to home and on country is recognised by Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) with over 300 referrals for these services since the start of the WACHS CC.

Following a successful pilot of providing virtual emergency services, as part of WACHS CC, in a community with approximately 700-800 residents, the community has since been accessing these services for over three years. With the support of Aboriginal Medical Services, a number of communities are seeking access to these virtual emergency services. The importance of understanding the cost benefits of providing these services is key to ensure WACHS are proving valuable and sustainable services.

This project looks to understand the economic costs, and service access benefits, of embedding the service into additional regional communities.

Project Objectives

The overarching objective of this project is to conduct a cost-consequence analysis of the implementation of WACHS CC into remote Western Australian communities (‘target regions’) in collaboration with AMS. This objective will be achieved with the fulfilment of specific project aims:

• Assess the current infrastructure and determine resourcing, workflows, equipment and facilities required to deliver WACHS CC services in target regions;· Evaluate the feasibility of implementing and operating WACHS CC services in target regions;
• Identify facilitators, barriers and challenges of implementing and later expanding WACHS CC services into target regions;
• Explore stakeholder perspectives on the impact of WACHS CC, including health professionals, patient and caregivers, and AMS communities;
• Develop a framework to enable project parties to conduct their own cost-consequence analysis based on localised clinical data and the needs and preferences of local communities.

[1] WA Country Health Service. Emergency Health Service. Updated October 26, 2021. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://www.wacountry.health.wa.gov.au/Our-patients/Telehealth/Emergency-Telehealth-Service