This project aims to examine how telehealth can be fully integrated into allied health clinical services across MSH to ensure delivery of high quality, sustainable services that meet the needs of consumers. The project team brings together telehealth researchers from UQ’s Centre for Online Health and MSH’s Centre for Functioning and Health Research (CFAHR) with MSH allied health clinicians and local site champions along with a consumer representative.
Together, we have explored telehealth activity, and the consumer, clinician- and service-level factors that influence the use of telehealth across 16 allied health services within MSH. This has involved investigating telehealth service activity data pulled from hospital administrative databases, interviews with 14 allied health managers and 58 allied health clinicians. Additionally, we have conducted surveys with 46 consumers and are currently recruiting consumers to participate in in-depth interviews.
This information will be used to develop a framework and practical recommendations that can be provided to key stakeholders across MSH to support further telehealth development. The next phase of the project will aim to select 4 allied health services across MSH and use the framework along with implementation science methodologies to increase telehealth activity.
