Services

The Centre for Online Health have more than two decades experience with education and training programs focussed on telehealth and virtual care.  Whilst the majority of this work has involved formal university accredited teaching, the UQ-COH have also developed an online telehealth training program for health service providers.  

The Telehealth Training Portal is an exciting online program which can be customised depending on role, skills level, and areas of interest.  The course includes a collection of short online modules, containing video presentations from subject matter experts, recommended readings, quizzes, and other learning activities.  The courses are evidence-based and routinely been updated with new topics and revised content.

Find out more about our Telehealth Training Portal. 
 

The Centre for Online Health have had a key role in planning, development, and delivery of telehealth services in a range of public health settings.

Why is this important?  An increasing number of organisations and health service providers recognise the benefits of telehealth alongside conventional models of care.  However, not all telehealth services are the same, and the implementation and delivery processes need to be careful thought out.  Identifying where to start, how to manage change, and how to plan for the delivery of telehealth services can be a complex task.  If not done well, this can lead to failures. 

The Centre for Online Health has maintained a strong partnership with the Queensland Health Department for over twenty years. 

Queensland Telepaediatric Service

COH was contracted by QH to establish the Queensland Telepaediatric Service (2001 - 2015).

In November 2000, the Queensland Telepaediatric Service (QTS) was established in Brisbane, Australia, to support the delivery of telehealth services to patients and clinicians in regional and remote locations.  The QTS was built on a centralised coordination model, where telehealth services could be effectively managed by a dedicated telehealth coordinator. 

In the first 15 years (Nov 2000 – Mar 2016), more than 23,000 telehealth consultations were delivered for 37 paediatric clinical specialties.  The most common service areas included child and youth mental health, neurology, burns care, surgery, and ear, nose and throat (ENT) services. A range of different telehealth service models were developed to align with different clinical service needs and location of services.  Whilst most work involved video consultation between hospitals, some services involved the delivery of telehealth services into the home, schools, or community health centres. 

• Queensland Telepaediatric Service: A review of the first 15 years of service

PA Telehealth Service

Based on the success of the paediatric telehealth program, the COH were commissioned by the Princess Alexandra Hospital (Metro South) to help with the planning, implementation, and evaluation of telehealth services. 

The COH had a key role in designing the PAH Telehealth Centre in 2012 – forming one of the first hospital-based telehealth centres in Australia.  The COH also led telehealth service development activities and the coordination of a broad range of telehealth services within MSH, under a service level agreement until 2021.

The telehealth centre is part of the broader telehealth strategy now managed by Metro South.

The Centre for Online Health offer a broad range of customised consultancy services to industry partners around the country.  

These services include the formal evaluation of telehealth services; strategic planning and reporting; education and training; and communication strategies which help inform all stakeholders, including health professionals, health services, and consumers. 

Find out more about our consultancy services.