Context
Most virtual healthcare innovations to date digitise existing models of care, such as replacing in-person consultations with a telephone or videoconferencing call.
However, novel service models are now developed that are only possible through digital technologies.
Further technological advances such as those related to digital wearables, artificial intelligence, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) and virtual reality will further change the way health services are delivered.
The department’s commitment to health and medical research (see Victorian health and medical research strategy: 2022–2032) includes encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation and supporting the translation of research into improved health outcomes.
The newly established Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing will play an important role in enabling virtual care translational research and knowledge sharing across the mental health and wellbeing system.
Health Service Partnerships also have an important role in supporting effective virtual care innovations. For example, Health Service Partnerships are supporting the scale up of innovative models incorporating virtual care by making it easier to expand new models across health services within a partnership and supporting collaboration, shared approaches and economies of scale.
Commitment: Build collaboration and partnerships
Actions
- Foster relationships with and between public health agencies, research organisations and the technology industry including:
- facilitating communication and collaboration between health services
- identifying and promoting opportunities to increase translational research
- encourage collaboration rather than competition
- facilitating and driving the adoption of common standards for virtual care systems, platforms and services.
Responsibility: Department of Health
- Improve data collection to evaluate benefits and improve policy development that ensures financially sustainability.
- Invest in new virtual care models
- Adopt a long-term viewpoint of realising financial benefits.
- Engage with the Independent Hospital and Aged Care Pricing Authority on improvements to the national pricing model to account for innovative, effective and financially sustainable care models incorporating virtual care.
Responsibility: Department of Health
Commitment: Monitor developments in virtual care and developing processes to test, assess and scale up new virtual models of care
Actions
- Identify, prioritise, trial and evaluate new technologies and scale up those that are evidenced as safe, improve outcomes and demonstrate value by:
- scanning for new innovations and technologies including artificial intelligence
- ensuring evidence is used to guide the translation of research into practice
- developing standardised evaluation
- supporting health service pilots.
Responsibility: Department of Health
- Improve data collection to evaluate benefits and improve policy development that ensures financially sustainability.
- Invest in new virtual care models.
- Adopt a long-term viewpoint of realising financial benefits.
- Engage with the Independent Hospital and Aged Care Pricing Authority on improvements to the national pricing model to account for innovative, effective and financially sustainable care models incorporating virtual care.
Responsibility: Department of Health
Case Study: MOST, Digital Mental Health Service
MOST was developed to address the challenges of increased demand for mental health support, long waitlists and geographic barriers to accessing care. Designed to work alongside face-to-face care and augment services, MOST provides support across all phases of treatment – before, during and after care.
MOST is a free digital mental health service for young people aged 12 to 25. It offers access to personalised, self-directed therapeutic content, a safe moderated online community, peer workers, careers counselling and one-on-one clinical support. It gives young people real people to talk to and gives them helpful, tailored information and practical tools that they can work through in their own time and space.
Developed by Orygen Digital, the technology division of Orygen, Australia’s centre of excellence in youth mental health, MOST began as the Moderated Online Social Therapy research project. After 12+ years of research it was translated to clinical service provision as MOST in 2020.
It is now available in 38 headspace centres and 13 specialist mental health services across Victoria. It has expanded to youth mental health services in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
Findings from clinical trials and the roll-out of the new service have shown that MOST is safe, engaging and effective. Young people report they are happy with their experience of MOST, with 94 per cent saying that they would recommend it to others. There have also been statistically significant changes in feelings of social anxiety and loneliness.
For more information visit the MOST .
Reviewed 25 September 2023