A new health project in Adelaide seeks to provide virtually-delivered primary care services to patients with chronic conditions.

Led by Flinders University, the safe@home project has received nearly $1.1 million (around $700,000) in funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.

HOW IT WORKS

The project will provide patients with chronic conditions, especially those living in low-income communities, with access to daily/regular integrated primary care services through virtual care and telemonitoring. 

It will deliver regular health checks and provide greater access to professional help while also giving incentives to further encourage patients to self-manage their own conditions at home.

SA Health, Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN), the Adelaide Primary Health Network, the Australian Telehealth Society, Digital Health SA and Integrated Cardiovascular Clinical Network SA have been all engaged in this project, according to a media release.

WHY IT MATTERS

While its obvious main goal is to keep patients safe at home, the safe@home project also intends to raise their quality of life and make them more involved in this model of care.

It will use the health information taken from regular monitoring to promote clinical decisions and actions that will improve patient well-being and outcomes.

In addition, the project will form a new digital health workforce by training doctors, nurses and allied health professionals in both hospital and primary care. 

It will also look at developing a business model for other regions to use routine Medicare item numbers for primary care and a framework for scaling into routine care, including refining the interfaces with EMRs and clinics.

THE LARGER TREND

SA Health has begun a 24/7 remote health monitoring service in rural and regional South Australia which also aims to deliver care directly to patients' homes.  It involves a monitoring kit that will allow patients to measure their own vital parameters at home and a digital tablet where they can upload their health data online. This free service is being offered to patients at risk of hospitalisation, aged care residents, and COVID-19 patients with chronic comorbidities.