Online treatment enhancement: Working with clients in rural and remote areas. Presented by Ray Stephens at the Australian Winter School in Brisbane 19/7/2013.

1. Online Treatment
Services – working
with clients in rural
and remote areas
Australian Winter School 2013
Ray Stephens – Online Project Leader

2. “The community services system needs to be
focused on digital technology opportunities
and prepared for the changes and
challenges it will bring”.
(Shergold, 2013)

3. The future
is here

4. Current
climate
• Pressures on health funding
• NBN, ehealth, telemedicine,
smartphones, increasing use of internet
for health and health information
• = focus on technology to increase
access, timeliness, reduce costs

5. “Long anticipated change is
occurring in healthcare and
organisations need to understand
how information technology can
help them respond successfully to
this coming challenge.”
Emediawire.com 2013-05-29

6. Current
climate
Initiatives that are currently being utilised in the alcohol
and drug sector include:
• Counselling online – text based counselling running
for some years now (Turning Point and others)
• Social Media – particularly in youth services such as
reachout, YSAS, dancewize, dreams up in smoke
• Self-help courses such as Say When and online
screening
• Groups or forums such as Sibling Support
• Telehealth?

7. An estimated 1.8 million
patients will be treated through
telehealth worldwide by 2017.
Telehealth

8. “80% of what doctors do today
will be replaced by technology in
10 years.”
Vinod Khosla - Sun Microsystems co founder, 2013

9. Telehealth
Portable kiosks

10. “Digital Health feels like the PC
industry in the early ’80′s.”
John Sculley – Former CEO of Apple and PepsiCo –
Digital Health Summit, January 2012

11. One more
thing…..

12. "Accelerating the use of innovative
technologies across the world can benefit all
countries. eHealth and mHealth can help the
previously helpless share in the benefits of
an improved social environment.“
Archbishop Desmond Tutu – Chairman, Global eHealth
Ambassadors Programme, April 2013

13. Remote
barriers
• < 18 y.o. male
• Youth outreach worker fortnightly
• Requires inpatient youth detox
• Lives in Corryong

14. Accessing
detox 1
• Wodonga via bus
• 1 bus (1.5 hrs) each way / day
• Assessment withdrawal nurse
• Phone assessment Williams House
• Back to Corryong
• Full day out
• 3 week waiting list
• 2nd daily phone contact with Wodonga

15. Accessing
detox 2
• Bed comes up
• Bus to Wodonga (1.5 hours)
• Meet withdrawal nurse
• Melbourne via train (4 hours)
• Cab to hotel
• Overnight in hotel
• Next day cab to Williams House
 Completed withdrawal program

16. Cost
3 bus trips Albury to Corryong $ 93
Train to Melbourne $ 32
Cab to hotel $ 20
Hotel $ 80
Cab to Williams House $ 10
Total $235
To get to resi-withdrawal

17. Cost
Cab to city $ 20
Train Melbourne to Wodonga $ 32
Cab to hotel $ 10
Hotel $ 80
Bus Albury to Corryong $ 31
Total $173
Total travel cost = $408
To get to home

19. Gaps
Cost of transport
Time in travelling
Separation from family
Multiple workers involved
= engagement?

20. Accessing
detox
• Wodonga via bus
• 1 bus (1.5 hrs) each way / day
• Assessment withdrawal nurse
• Phone assessment Williams House
• Back to Corryong
• Full day out
• 3 week waiting list
• 2nd daily phone contact with Wodonga
• Video assessment

21. Videoconferencing
Project
• 2 year trial
• Using videoconferencing for remote assessments
• Access to Williams House Youth Resi Withdrawal
• Statewide catchment

22. Videoconferencing
Project - Aims
• Reduce travel time – staff, client, family
• Reduce costs
• Improved assessments, timely responses
• Demystify
• Engagement
• Collaboration

23. Videoconferencing
Project - Cost
• ~ $15K setup
• Free to partners
• Can be done for free (or a webcam)

24. Videoconferencing
Project - Progress
• Conducting assessments with 2 rural agencies
• Positive client experiences
• Positive staff experiences
• “It has confirmed that we have opened a new door
for allowing access to remote clients to our service
and reducing barriers.”

25. Videoconferencing
Project - Learnings
• Tech issues
• Needs to be integrated
• Change is slow – training and lots of support
• Staff will find other uses

26. Activity
Online treatment
5 years from now what might you be doing?
• With clients
• Within your organisation
• With other organisations

27. Activity 2
• Barriers?
• Can we break these down?

28. Activity 3
• Short – term
• In pairs come up with one initiative you can
implement at your service
• Present this back

29. Activity 4
Change management
• How do we move our organisations / sector
towards online treatment

30. Resources
http://www.scoop.it/t/telehealth-ehealth-videoconferencing
rstephens@regen.org.au